The United States put an end, on Thursday, to the fragile hope of the Palestinians to become full members of the UN, through a veto in the Security Council of the Palestinian request, criticized by Israel, reports AFP on Friday, according to Agerpres.Â
For several weeks, the Palestinians, who since 2012 have the lower status of “non-member observer state”, as well as the Arab countries, have been insisting on the Security Council to accept a “Palestinian state”, already recognized by the majority capitals, to occupy its “legitimate” place within the United Nations.
“Granting full membership to the United Nations to Palestine would mitigate some of the historical injustice suffered by generations of Palestinians,” argued Thursday before the Council Ziad Abu Amr, High official of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA).
The United States, which did everything to delay the vote, did not hesitate to resort to the veto, which it regularly uses to protect its Israeli ally.
The draft resolution presented by Algeria, which “recommends to the General Assembly that the State of Palestine be admitted as a member of the United Nations”, received 12 votes in favor, 1 against and 2 abstentions (the United Kingdom and the Swiss £ia).
„A lack of action would be a grave and unforgivable error. Not waking up today would allow the continuation of injustice and impunity, an eternal shame,” said Algerian ambassador Amar Bendjama just before the vote.
The admission of a state to the UN must receive a positive recommendation from the Council (at least 9 votes out of 15 in favor, without any veto from a permanent member), then be approved by the General Assembly, with a two-thirds majority.
The US has continued to repeat in recent weeks that its position “has not changed” since 2011, when the application for membership presented by ANP President Mahmoud Abbas fell in front of the opposition American schools, even before reaching the Council.
The Americans consider that the UN is not the right place for the recognition of a Palestinian state, which, according to them, should be the result of an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. They also point out that US law would require them to cut funding to the UN in the event of Palestinian accession outside of such a bilateral agreement.
The last right of veto expressed in the case of a state joining the UN dates back to 1976, when the US blocked the entry of Vietnam.
Israel virulently denounced the Palestinian initiative, criticizing the simple fact that the request was examined in the Council, which their ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, considered “immoral”. The Israeli government opposes the two-state solution, defended by a large majority of the international community, including the US. Most of the 193 UN member states (137, according to the ANP) unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state.
Publisher: CLB
