The majority of members in the United Nations General Assembly have voted to “enhance” Palestine’s rights within the international body and urged it to be accepted as a member following a heated debate. Palestine has had non-member observer state status since 2012, which allows some rights short of a full member. Membership can only be decided on upon by the UN Security Council. Friday’s vote can be seen as a gesture of support for the Palestinians by the full UN body, despite strident Israeli opposition. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the resolution, saying that it supported Palestinian efforts for another vote on the issue of the Security Council. “Palestine will continue its endeavour to obtain full membership in the UN,” he said in a statement.(Reuters)
Israel it should be clear is opposed to the Palestinian authority gaining any real diplomatic leverage in its negotiations for land for its state. Support for the Palestinians across the world is improving due to the slaughter that taking place in Gaza. This is why a vast majority of UNGA member states supported the motion, when the five member UN Security Council cast their votes. These are United States and Britain which vetoed it, China and Russia which possibly abstained. France for once seems to have approved the resolution that proposed UN membership for the Palestinian state. However, in the UNSC it is consensus that matters. That is why the General Assembly had to propose a watered-down proposal that its vast majority of members could agree upon. Israel did not hide its anger at the vote.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, said the body had welcomed a “terror” state into its ranks Addressing the assembly Erdan shredded a copy of the UN Charter – accusing members of having metaphorically done just that by passing the resolution by 143 votes to 9. “You are shredding the UN charter with your own hands,” he said. “Yes, yes, that’s what you’re doing, Shredding the UN charter. Shame on you.” Nations voting against the resolution were the US, Argentina, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Israel, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and Papua New Guinea. The UK was one of 25 nations to abstain. Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour told the General Assembly before the vote that a “yes” vote was “a vote for Palestinian existence, it is not against any state. It is an investment in peace”. “We want peace, we want freedom,” Mr Mansour told members.(Reuters)
Gilad is clearly a representative of the right-wing government of Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu. He (Gilad) is using theatrics in poor taste to attract attention away from his country’s brutal human rights record. Be it enforced evictions of Palestinians from their homes, the seizure of their land by the Israeli authorities in the West Bank and the imprisonment of thousands of Palestinians in Administrative Detention in the West Bank. He forgets (or denies) that Israel has continued its expansion of settlements in the West Bank. The fact that the United States government is still vehemently opposed to even allowing the Palestinians some basic rights as even their recognition as a country is simply tragic. Washington remains the main power placing its weight behind Israel. Neither the US Congress nor the White House will raise a finger to keep the Israeli Lobby happy. The Palestinians will have a difficult ordeal trying to win peace and freedom.
The original draft of the assembly resolution was changed significantly to address concerns not only by the US but also by Russia and China, according to three Western diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because negotiations were private. The first draft would have conferred on Palestine “The rights and privileges necessary to ensure its full and effective participation” in the Assembly’s sessions and UN conferences “on equal footing with member states.” It also made no reference to whether Palestine could vote in the General Assembly. According to the diplomats, Russia and China, which are strong supporters of Palestine’s UN membership, were concerned that granting the list of rights and privileges detailed in an annexe to the resolution could set a precedent for other would-be UN members – with Russia concerned about Kosovo and China about Taiwan.(Euronews.com)
Diplomacy is not with out its complications. Regional and world powers are nothing without their egos. Russia and China may support the membership of Palestine in the UN, but that does not mean either of these countries’ regimes are without skeletons in their closets. China is obsessed with isolating Taiwan and Russia does not want to upset Kosovo’s arch nemesis, Serbia. The Palestinians are still having the bitter end of the deal, but in a world where they are desperate for friends, they have to make do with what they have. The road to peace and freedom is long and winding. Beijing and Moscow are friends any one should be weary of. They do not support the vulnerable like Palestine out of the goodness of their hearts. But with an uncompromising enemy like the Zionist regime in Israel what choice is there? The Genocide in Gaza continues.
Article written by:
Yacoob Cassim
Journalist at Radio Al Ansaar
