AlHijjah 24, 1433, Nov 9, 2012, SPA -- The Palestinian Authority will not back down from its decision to ask the United Nations to recognise Palestine as a non-member state of the world body, dpa quoted a senior official as saying Friday. "The decision is final and we are going to the UN in November," Wasel Abu Yousef, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee, the PLO's leading decision-making body, said. "We are not going back on this under any circumstances," he told dpa. Abu Yousef was reacting to reports that the United States may ask the Palestinians to delay their proposal until President Barack Obama, who was re-elected for a second term on Tuesday, presents new ideas on reviving the stalled Palestinian-Israeli negotiations. He said a draft proposal of the non-member status bill has already been handed to UN countries. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has also sent envoys to several countries to seek their support for the UN resolution. Palestinians say more than 115 of the 193 members of the UN have said they will support the Palestinian bid, giving them an easy majority to get the bill passed. In addition, over 50 states are expected to abstain and around 20 to vote against it. Last year, a Palestinian bid for UN membership - in effect recognition of Palestinian statehood - fell through when it became clear it lacked the Security Council votes needed. The current bid needs only General Assembly ratification. The US, which does not have veto power in the General Assembly, and Israel strongly oppose the bill. Both have threatened to take punitive measures against the Palestinians if they go ahead with their plans. Arab foreign ministers are expected to discuss the issue with European officials when they meet in Cairo on Monday, Abu Yousef said. The decision on when to submit the resolution for a vote may be made after that meeting, he said.
