U.N. Council Endorses a State for Palestinians

The Security Council approved a resolution Tuesday night endorsing a Palestinian state for the first time, supporting a U.S. measure that also calls for an immediate cease-fire in the escalating Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

American U.N. Ambassador John D. Negroponte said Washington’s surprise move aimed to give momentum to the peace mission being launched this week by its Middle East envoy Anthony C. Zinni.

The resolution came hours after Syria tabled a Palestinian-backed resolution. The U.S. measure won support from 14 of the 15 council members, with Syria abstaining.

The council has adopted a number of resolutions over the years calling for Mideast peace, but none had referred to the contentious issue of a Palestinian state. President Bush and other administration leaders recently have called for a Palestinian state, as have other nations.

The resolution also demanded an “immediate cessation of all acts of violence, including all forms of terror, provocation, incitement and destruction” and called on Israelis and Palestinians to work together toward a cease-fire with the goal of resuming peace negotiations.

In last-minute negotiations, U.S. officials added the sentence “affirming a vision of a region where two states, Israel and Palestine, live side-by-side within secure and recognized borders.”

Speaking on behalf of Arab nations, Syrian U.N. Ambassador Mikhail Wehbe labeled the measure “very weak,” saying it doesn’t deal with the roots of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict--”the question of the Israeli occupation.”

Nasser Kidwa, the Palestinian U.N. observer, welcomed the council’s first reference to two states. Even though the Palestinians didn’t support everything in the text, he indicated that if he had a vote he would have approved it.

Israel’s U.N. ambassador, Yehuda Lancry, said he could welcome a “balanced” Security Council resolution on the Mideast, which he called “a rare and remarkable” occurrence.