UN Recognizes Palestinian State

Barbara Tuchman’s classic, The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam, identifies three stages in the descent to self-destruction by an elite: having reached a permanent impasse; being advised that there is a viable alternative; rejecting the alternative and marching to folly. Israel, with the US as enabler, moved closer to folly, opposing UN recognition of the Palestinians as a “nonmember observer state.” The measure, passed on a 138-9-41 vote, approves statehood status and renders Israel officially as an occupying power.