The General Assembly of the United Nations approved, on Friday, a resolution by which it asks the UN Security Council to admit the status of full membership of Palestine to the UN, with 143 votes in favor, nine votes against. and 25 objections.
The resolution asks the Security Council to “favorably reconsider the matter” and emphasizes that the Palestinian Authority will be granted UN membership, saying that “the State of Palestine is qualified for membership” of the United Nations†, informs CNN.
Before the start of the session, the US Mission to the UN indicated that if the resolution is adopted and the application for membership is sent to the Security Council, the US will again impose a veto.
The US mission stated that the Palestinian Authority does not meet the criteria for UN membership and that the resolution does not resolve previously raised concerns about Palestinian membership.
In April, the Palestinian Authority relaunched its application for membership, and later that month, the US rejected the Palestinian bid for membership.
The Security Council vote had 12 members in favor and one against, in addition to the US veto. Israel praised the US veto, calling the Palestinian offer a “disastrous proposal”, while the presidency of the Palestinian Authority qualified the veto as “unfair, immoral and unjustified”.
In September 2011, the Palestinian Authority failed to gain UN recognition as an independent member state. A year later, the UN decided that the status of “non-member observer entity” of the Palestinian Authority should be changed to “non-member observer state”, similar to the Vatican.
Emotional speech by the Palestinian ambassador Riyad Mansour
In an emotional speech addressed to the General Assembly of the United Nations, on Friday, before the vote, the Palestinian ambassador Riyad Mansour spoke about his people, emphasizing the terrible situation in the Gaza Strip.
“Our flag flies high and proud in Palestine and around the globe and on the campus of Columbia University. It has become a symbol for all those who believe in freedom and is led by all those who can no longer do anything in the face of such absolute injustice, Mansour said.
“As we speak here, 1.4 million Palestinians in Rafah are wondering if they will survive today,” he said, expressing the deep uncertainty facing Palestinians in the region.
Mansour emphasized their resistance, noting the symbolic significance of their flag that flies proudly both in the Palestinian territories and around the globe, including at Columbia University.
He stressed the urgent need for global solidarity in support of Gaza, stressing that although the Palestinians will not disappear, “the lives lost and the scars caused cannot be undone”.
The Foreign Minister of Israel condemns the adoption of the resolution
Israel’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Israel Katz, condemned on Friday the adoption of the UN General Assembly resolution asking the Security Council to reconsider Palestine’s UN membership.
“The absurd decision taken today at the UN General Assembly highlights the structural bias of the UN and the reasons why, under the leadership of UN Secretary General Guterres, it has turned into an irrelevant institution,” said Katz, adding that “the message that the UN sends to our suffering region, violence, pays off”.
Katz said the decision will further complicate negotiations for the release of the Inuyan hostages in Gaza, providing “a tailwind for Hamas.”
The foreign minister thanked the countries that did not vote in favor of the resolution, which he says chose to be on the right side of history and morality.
Publisher: MI
