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Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/04/us-palestinians-israel-un-idUSTRE77362C20110804
Palestine's UN Bid: Between History and Hot Air
(Reuters) Tom Perry - The Palestinians will likely emerge from September's General Assembly meeting with a UN status upgrade that will give them access to dozens of UN agencies. But talk in Israel of a looming "diplomatic tsunami" has subsided. Some argue that unless it is part of a deep rethink of Palestinian strategy, the upgrade will have little more than symbolic value and bring Palestinians no closer to independence. "It's a first step, but without further steps it is politically meaningless," said George Giacaman, a political scientist at Birzeit University in the West Bank. When discussing September, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's aides say he says: "Unpleasant, but not terrible." Israel seems more wary about the potential for September to trigger Palestinian protests, since the Palestinian leadership has called for mass protests in support of the bid.