Palestine is a legal entity and deserves to have its voice heard on an equal footing with Israel  Nobody can dispute that Palestine functions as a nation, its citizens are governed within the jurisdiction of a government that is one of the closest observed in the world. Abbas has as much right to speak for the Palestinian people as any other world leader does for theirs and that reality is reflected in the fact that he and other members of his administration negotiate with other nation states and international bodies. Palestine is for example a member of numerous International Organisations the most recent of which is joining UNESCO in November 2011. [i] If Palestine can be treated as a state for the purposes of signing international treaties and negotiating with the Israeli [ii] and other governments then it is only sensible that it should be awarded the benefits and status that come with statehood, of which recognition by the UN is one.  [i] UNESCO, ‘Palestine’, unesco.org, 2011,   [ii] Jewish Virtual Library, ‘Israel-PLO Recognition’, 9 September 1993,