New York: In a decisive vote, the UN General Assembly has approved a resolution granting Palestine new “rights and privileges” and urging the Security Council to reconsider its request to join the United Nations as the 194th member.
The resolution received overwhelming support with 143 votes in favor, including India, while nine countries opposed it and 25 abstained.
The resolution recognizes Palestine’s eligibility for UN membership and calls upon the Security Council to review the matter favorably. It also outlines additional rights and privileges for Palestine, effective from the 79th session of the General Assembly in September 2024, which include participating in conferences and meetings.
Nevertheless, Israel has strongly condemned the UN’s decision to grant Palestine these additional rights, especially in light of the recent seven-month-long conflict between Israeli forces and Hamas militants in Gaza. Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, made a powerful statement by using a shredding machine to tear several pages of the UN Charter at the General Assembly podium, symbolizing his opposition to the resolution.
While addressing the Assembly, Erdan stated that his gesture aimed to mirror what he deemed as the Assembly’s own disregard for the principles outlined in the UN Charter following the adoption of the resolution on Palestinian rights. He expressed his disappointment, emphasizing that the vote was destructive to the UN Charter and urged those responsible to reconsider their actions.
The Palestinian quest for full UN membership arises amidst a seven-month-long conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas in the Gaza Strip. This is further compounded by Israel’s expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank, which the UN deems illegal. It is worth noting that Israel’s offensive followed an unprecedented attack by Hamas-led militants that claimed the lives of 1,200 individuals, while the Israeli retaliation resulted in the deaths of nearly 35,000 people in Gaza.
Regarding Palestine’s status within the UN, it is significant that 140 out of the 193 members of the UN General Assembly have already recognized Palestine as a sovereign state. In 2011, Palestine initially submitted a request for full UN membership, which failed due to insufficient support from at least nine out of the Security Council’s 15 members. However, they subsequently approached the General Assembly and successfully obtained non-member observer state status in November 2012, with the support of over two-thirds of the members.
On April 2, 2024, Palestine once again reached out to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, urging a reconsideration of their application for full UN membership. Unfortunately, on April 18, the United States vetoed a widely-supported resolution in the UN Security Council that aimed to grant Palestine full membership. This veto effectively obstructed the path towards recognizing Palestine as a state.
The draft resolution, which proposed the admission of the state of Palestine to the United Nations, received 12 votes in favor from the 15-nation Council. Switzerland and the UK abstained, while the US exercised its veto power. For the resolution to be adopted, it required the support of at least nine Council members without any vetoes from the five permanent members – China, Russia, France, the UK, and the US.
The United States remains steadfast in its backing of a two-state solution. The recent vote is not a rejection of Palestinian statehood, but rather an affirmation that it can only be achieved through direct talks between the involved parties,” stated Deputy US Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood during the Security Council meeting. He also mentioned that there are still lingering uncertainties regarding whether Palestine fulfills the necessary requirements to be recognized as a State.
