US President Barack Obama had earlier expressed his support for Palestine to get international recognition,"Jakarta (ANTARA News) - 2011 is a crucial year for Palestine to get international recognition including from the UN as an independent state because the world is focusing on global issues this year, according to a senior diplomat.
"2011 is a crucial year for Palestine to get international recognition because this year the international community is focusing on addressing global issues. While the year 2012, the world will focus on the presidential election in the United States," ASEAN Foundation Executive Director Dr Makarim Wibisono said here on Wednesday in a discussion on "Palestine State and the UN" organized by the Indonesian Council of World Affair (ICWA).
On paper, Palestine has a strong position to receive the international recognition from the UN General Assembly because supports from member states of the Non-Aligned Movement, the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the African groups, according to Makarim.
"US President Barack Obama had earlier expressed his support for Palestine to get international recognition," he said.
It reflected Obama`s personal view on the solution of the Middle East problem, he added.
However, in July 2011, US officials agreed to use its veto rights if Palestine applied for UN membership, Makarim said.
Palestine must get at least two third of the votes in the UN General Assembly or 128 countries to gain full UN membership status.
In the discussion, Palestinian Ambassador to Indonesia Fariz Mehdawi said Palestine was very serious in its struggle to gain independence and would continue to do so until it reached its objectives no matter how long it would take.
The Palestinian people were inspired by the Indonesian people`s struggle for independence which had been successful after fighting the Dutch colonists for around 350 years, he said.
He expressed his grateful for Indonesia`s staunch support to Palestine so far.
"We feel strong because we are supported by many countries. When almost the whole world support you, you never feel weak and vulnerable. You will have confidence. That`s how we feel, on the contrary to Israel. We don`t feel being isolated," he said. (*)
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
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