Mr. Speaker, this past week, the UN voted 138-9 in a symbolic gesture recognizing the state of Palestine. It was 65 years to the day since the celebrated UN vote on partition that gave rise to the modern state of Israel. Having accepted partition, the tiny nation was attacked by five surrounding armies.
To this day, the Palestinian charter calls for the destruction of the Jewish state, formed during what it likes to call the Al-Nakba, the disaster.
Hamas official Osama Hamdan stated that, “A Palestinian state without an armed struggle against Israel is an illusion”. Nevertheless, Hamas welcomed the statehood bid “because it reflected the international community's readiness to fix what it corrupted in Palestine”, adding that Hamas would continue its armed struggle.
With widespread violence in Syria, instability in Egypt, Hezbollah and Hamas armed by Iran, and Iran pursing nuclear weapons and sworn to destroy Israel, it is hard to imagine that the UN vote will produce any relief for the people caught in the conflict. The prospect for peace just slid further over the horizon, and that is a tragedy in the making.