Finally, after 152 months since the request submitted by the Palestinian on September 2011 for the UNSC vote on granting Palestine UN membership, (but the request was withdrawn at the last minute under immense pressure from various parties led by the United States but later in November 2012, Palestinians obtained the status of a “non-member observer state), finally, the date is set for a second attempt or as the French describe it; another case of “Dejavu”.
With finger crossed, the date for the UN session to vote on granting Palestine full permanent UN membership, supposedly is set (after prolonged deliberations and rounds of attempts to persuade the Palestinians to retract their demand for the vote) to happen on Friday, April the 19.
However, it seems that the fate of the vote session is predetermined, in light of the United States’ opposition to the draft resolution presented by Algeria, which “recommends to the UNGA the acceptance of the State of Palestine as a member of the United Nations.”
The administration of US President Joe Biden diligently strives and exerting influence to prevent the vote to secure the sufficient votes in the Security Council to pass full membership for Palestine so, it will not have to use its (infamous) veto. It seems this time, that the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas “Abu Mazen” is keen to reject the American call to withdraw the request for a Security Council vote on granting Palestine permanent UN membership.
Nonetheless, the United States and Israel are on a “bully” campaign to flunk the vote by inducing France, Switzerland, Japan, South Korea and Ecuador, to “nay” or even abstain. The Palestinians are one vote short to support the demand for full membership, having supported members of the UNSC, including Algeria, Russia and China.
To this, ARIJ would like to emphasize the following:
Israel, and the UN member countries should reminisce that Israel was created under UN resolution 181, and so was Palestine, hence the recognition of a Palestinian State and its consequential full membership in the UN should be a “given” decision,
- The United States and Israel insistence to maintain the futile bilateral negotiation and open-end timeframe, which is no longer a viable option. Therefore, the immediate recognition of a Palestinian State is a vital step for the route toward initial stability and multi-lateral negotiation, within a specified timeframe toward the realization of the internationally recognized “Two State Solution”,
- The United States Biden administration and the countries that still refuses or reluctant to recognize the inevitability and significance of the Palestinian State really stand in a paradoxical standing as they repeatedly keep calling and emphasizing that the “Two State Solution” is the one and only way to go to resolve this conflict,
- The tension, frustration, and lack of trust between the Palestinians and the consecutive US administrations since 2016 have played a subversive role to the advancement of the “Two State Solution”,
- The insistence of Israel and the US administrations to correlate any of the recognition scenarios of a Palestinian State with a broader regional agreement that includes normalization between Israel and the Arab world, is the reason for the put off the “Two State Solution” and the failure of the entire peace process,
- It is by large consensus that the turmoil that currently storming the entire Middle East region is mainly attributed to Israel’s defiance of international law, noncompliance with the UN resolutions, insolence and nonconformity with humanitarian laws,
The impact of Israel’s adversative affect and insubordination is likely to spread across the world as already seen and witnessed in the demonstrations and protest marches against its brutal and savage policies and practices in the form of unconscionable and military attack on the Palestinian people of Gaza and the West Bank; and using food deprivation, denial of medical treatment and the list goes on. These forms of collective punishments against Palestinians in Gaza falls nothing short but of world failure to put an end to what clearly stands as the 21st century worst crime against humanity.
Note:
The world and history will remember not only Israel but also all its accomplices in the crimes committed against the Palestinians.
Prepared by:
The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem
