RAMALLAH, August 16, 2011 (WAFA) - Hanan Ashrawi, PLO Executive Committee member, Tuesday said, “We hold the United Nations responsible not just as a member of the Quartet, but as the proper address for questions of Palestinian statehood and our right to self-determination, and as the body charged with upholding international law,”.

 In a meeting with the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Robert Serry, to discuss Palestinian plans to seek UN membership in September Ashrawi described the meeting as both positive and productive, saying that it included discussions concerning further steps for cooperation aimed at reinforcing Palestinian statehood.

Ashrawi, who is also a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), said “we look forward to constructive cooperation with all Quartet members leading up to and during the Palestinian quest for UN membership this September.”

Serry reinforced the difficulties that lay ahead in the absence of negotiations, emphasized his desire not to see the United Nations become a theater for division, and expressed his hope that events at the UN in September prove to be both positive and to strengthen prospects for a Palestinian state, noting that Palestinian state-building capacities had already surpassed the threshold of statehood.

He expressed his alarm over Israel’s recent announcement of further settlement construction, saying that it would make ongoing efforts by the Quartet to create a productive statement to help shape a positive agenda even more difficult.

Serry stressed the international community’s support for a two-state solution, which he said required effective and meaningful negotiations. 

R.Q./T.R./F.R.