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Palestinians do not get full UN membership
April 19, 2024, 1:21 a.m
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The Palestinians will continue to be denied full membership in the United Nations. The USA vetoes a corresponding proposal in the UN Security Council. It was said in advance that the UN was not the right place for recognizing a Palestinian state.
A resolution for full membership of a Palestinian state in the United Nations failed in the UN Security Council due to a US veto. Twelve member countries voted for the resolution in New York, Switzerland and Great Britain abstained. Due to the veto of the USA, which is a permanent member of the most powerful UN body, the adoption of the draft resolution failed.
A few weeks ago, the Palestinian UN Ambassador Mansour asked in a letter to UN chief António Guterres that the request, which had already been submitted in 2011, be resubmitted to the Security Council. A responsible body of the Security Council examined the request, but was unable to agree on a uniform response. Algeria then put the resolution to the vote anyway.
USA: Approval only for a two-state solution
For it to be successful, at least nine of the 15 Security Council members would have had to vote for it, and there should not have been a veto from the five permanent council members – China, France, Russia, Great Britain and the USA.
The US government takes the position that an agreement with Israel on a two-state solution is a prerequisite for recognizing full UN membership for Palestine. The UN, on the other hand, is not the right place for recognizing a Palestinian state. However, Siad Abu Amr, a representative of the Palestinian Authority, said full membership would alleviate “some of the historical injustice” that weighs on the Palestinians and give the Palestinian people “hope for a dignified life in an independent state.” Shortly before the vote, UN Ambassador Mansour once again urged the adoption of the resolution at a Security Council meeting, while his Israeli counterpart Gilad Erdan sharply warned against it.
Immediately after the vote, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz praised the US veto. Recognition of a Palestinian state six months after the October 7 massacre would be a reward for Hamas’ terrorism, he wrote on Platform X.
In November 2011, the application for full UN membership had already failed at the Security Council. A year later, the United Nations granted observer status to the Palestinians despite US opposition. Of the 193 UN member states, 139 have so far recognized Palestine as an independent state. Germany is not one of them.