U.S. UN Ambassador Susan Rice objected Wednesday when the Palestinian foreign minister spoke at the Security Council while seated behind a nameplate that read “State of Palestine.” Rice said that the U.S. does not recognize the General Assembly vote in November “as bestowing Palestinian ‘statehood’ or recognition.”
“Only direct negotiations to settle final status issues will lead to this outcome,” Rice said. “Therefore, in our view, any reference to the ‘State of Palestine’ in the United Nations, including the use of the term ‘State of Palestine’ on the placard in the Security Council or the use of the term ‘State of Palestine’ in the invitation to this meeting…does not reflect acquiescence that ‘Palestine’ is a state.”
Canadian Ambassador Guillermo E. Rishchynski also complained that allowing the Palestinians to sit behind the “State of Palestine” nameplate “creates a misleading impression” and said Canada would oppose the Palestinians’ attempts to upgrade their status in symbolic ways.
{Andy Heller-Matzav.com Newscenter}
