Statehood

Palestinian authorities are now fed up with peace talks with Israel and have now appealed directly to the UN in the hopes they'll finally get statehood recognition. This has to pain Obama to some degree. Granted the President has set a goal of seeing a two state solution come to fruition, but he always wanted Israel and the Palestinians to come to an agreement on borders and security themselves. Instead the UN will vote on how the land is distributed, which the US will likely veto.

If the US does veto the proposition, Obama angers the Arab speaking world and further isolates our country from those who wish to see this come to pass. If the US doesn't then Obama inflames Congress and his chances of re-election will grow even more narrow. Even if the vote comes before the General Assembly the US will likely vote against it anyways.

There's no winning politically for Obama in this situation. He knows that whatever happens in the UN that Israel and Palestine will be no closer to peace. There's no chance of them coming to an agreement anytime soon. We could see the spark of another large scale war between the parties, which will result in much of the same.

But Facebook changed their interface...is there no God?

"There can be no genuine resolution to the conflict without a sovereign, viable Palestinian state that accommodates Israelis' security requirements and the demographic realities." - Bill Clinton

'All Hell' Breaks Out in Palestine's Statehood Bid