Daily Star - Around 2,000 rally in Beirut for Palestinian statehood, September 21, 2011

BEIRUT: Around 2,000 protesters gathered outside the U.N. regional office in Beirut Tuesday, in support of the Palestinian bid for full statehood recognition.Demonstrators waved Palestinian and Lebanese flags, and some held pictures of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the late Yasser Arafat.A statement from the organizers called for Palestinian statehood “based on the natural, legal, historical right of the Palestinian people and the successive sacrifices of its generations in defense of its country’s freedom and independence, based on international law.” A statement from the Palestine Liberation Organization, one of the organizers, read out at the rally, said that “all Lebanese people are supportive of Abu Mazen [Abbas].”Abbas has confirmed that he will formally submit the Palestinian membership bid at the U.N. Friday but the United States has vowed to use its Security Council veto against any such request.The statement from the organizers called on any Security Council members with veto power to “refrain from violating justice against us and in serving the aims of the Israeli occupation.”If the veto is used, the Palestinian leadership has said they will then go to the U.N. General Assembly, and apply for Palestine to be upgraded from an “entity” to a “non-member state.”The statement from the organizers also expressed confidence in Arab states to “bear responsibility in this historical age,” and made special mention of Lebanon in this regard.Lebanon currently holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council. President Michel Sleiman arrived in New York Tuesday and was due to later meet with Abbas to discuss the bid for statehood.The organizers of the rally also reiterated their demand for U.N. Resolution 194, referring to refugees’ right to return.