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Barbara Walter on Palestinian Statehood

A win-win strategy for the Palestinians

09/29/2011
Barbara Walter and Andrew Kydd, L.A. Times

Everyone knows that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' bid for statehood through the United Nations Security Council will fail. Even if the Palestinians get the nine votes needed , the United States will veto it. And yet the strategy is brilliant. Why? Because the Palestinians win even if they lose.

To understand how this seemingly doomed effort is designed to work, one has to recognize the strategic game Abbas is playing. Abbas knows that time and public opinion are on his side. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can denounce the move, President Obama can end it, those opposed to it can call it foolish and self-defeating. But world reaction to Abbas' request has been overwhelmingly positive and will become increasingly so with every move by Israel and the U.S. to block it.

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Barbara Walter is a Professor of International Relations and Pacific Studies and Affiliated Faculty of Political Science.

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