By: Muhammad Rayhansyah Jasin
Ambassador Robert A. Wood of the United States votes against the draft resolution on Palestine in the Security Council (Photo: Manuel Elias/UN)
The United States has just vetoed yet another proposal that recommended granting full UN membership to Palestine during a Security Council meeting held on April 18, 2024.
The matter was put forward by Algeria in response to a request sent by Palestine’s de-facto President Mahmoud Abbas to the Secretary-General to seek a full UN membership for Palestine. The Security Council’s recommendation is necessary before any membership application is considered by the General Assembly and subject to a two-thirds majority vote.
The vote in the 15-member Security Council was 12 in favour and two abstentions – the UK and Switzerland (Photo: Aljazeera)
12 countries voted in favor, which included countries such as France, Russia, and China and the other 9 non-permanent members of the Security Council. The United Kingdom and Switzerland chose to abstain from voting. Had the resolution passed, it likely would have cleared the two-thirds majority hurdle as 140 countries have already acknowledged Palestinian statehood. This would have made the Middle-Eastern nation the 194th member of the UN.
The Deputy Ambassador of the United States to the UN, Robert Wood, stated in a press release that: “This vote does not reflect opposition to Palestinian statehood, but instead is an acknowledgment that it will only come from direct negotiations between the parties”. Since the October 7 attack, US President Joe Biden, along with the bipartisan support of Congress, has been steadfast in standing by Israel to demand retribution over Hamas’ actions. Wood also noted the need for wide reform over the Palestinian Authority and the US’ opposition to Hamas’ control in Gaza.
The State of Palestine’s Permanent Ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour, claimed that the veto made by the US was “unfair and unethical”. Mansour argued that the more delays there were in Palestinian statehood recognition, the bigger the human toll that is exerted on the lives of ordinary Palestinians. In contrast, Israel’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Katz, claimed that the UN Security Council has not done enough in condemning Hamas’ October 7 attack.
A surprising move followed upon the vetoed proposal, with more than 30 states urging the General Assembly to take action. On May 10, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) passed the Draft Resolution A/ES-10/L.30/Rev.1 to have the Security Council ‘reconsider the matter (Palestinian UN membership) favorably’. The resolution also granted Palestine new rights and privileges (ex. to be seated among member states in alphabetical order, to speak in the General Assembly on matters outside of Palestine and Middle East issues, to submit proposals and recommendations, etc.). However, the draft resolution (DR) also reaffirms Palestine’s current status quo as a non-member observer state with no voting rights in any of the UN agencies.
Results of the General Assembly’s vote on the resolution on the status of the Observer State of Palestine (Photo: Manuel Elias/UN)
The UNGA vote on May 10, 2024, saw the biggest support yet by members of the UN on Palestine’s independence since the country’s inception to the UN in 2012. 143 nations approved the DR with only 25 abstentions and 9 nations not in favor. The United States rejected the proposal along with Argentina, Czechia, Hungary, Israel, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, and Papua New Guinea. Some staunch US allies were seen in favor of the DR like France, Japan, South Korea, and Spain.
Ahead of the vote, Israel’s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan took up the podium to defy the Palestinian Authority, calling it a “terror state”. Whilst giving the speech, he also had the mini-UN charter book shredded live on camera as a metaphor for what the vote meant to the UN. Conversely, Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour declared that the vote ahead was the most significant ever for the Palestinian people. It is speculated that the large international support towards Palestine can be interpreted as a rebuke towards Israel’s plan to invade Southern Rafah, the last remaining holdout of Gaza refugees fleeing their homes since the start of the ground invasion by Israeli troops on October 27.
Israeli ambassador shreds UN document in angry speech (Photo: CNN)
The Palestinian Quest for full membership of the UN goes back for decades, with the most recent changes in its status occurring on November 29, 2012. At the time, 138 UN members voted in favor of granting Palestine the “Non-Member Permanent Observer Status”, which conferred the nation with all the rights and responsibilities a fully-fledged member of the UN would have in international organizations with the exception of voting rights on draft resolutions proposed by the main bodies of the UN (ex. The Security Council and the General Assembly).
The State of Palestine, as it has been referred to since its adoption, is one of the only entities currently enjoying this unique status, with the other being the Vatican City under the namesake of “Holy See”. Dubbed the “UN General Assembly Resolution 67/19”, the decision was adopted with only 9 member states voting against it: Canada, Czech Republic, Israel, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Nauru, Panama, Palau, United States.
All member states of ASEAN voted in favor of the resolution except for Singapore, which abstained from voting with 40 other countries. Singapore’s Permanent Representative to the UN at the time, Mr Albert Chua, stated “We believe that only a negotiated settlement consistent with UN Security Council Resolution 242 can provide the basis for a viable, long-term solution”.
12 Years Ago – Mahmoud Abbas (centre), President of the Palestinian Authority, with his delegation in the General Assembly (Photo: Rick Bajornas/UN)
Now, the people of Palestine would have to wait a little longer to be fully recognized as equal peers among UN member states, including Israel. ◼