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April 19, 2024 – 01:57
(Keystone-ATS) The United States on Thursday put an end to the Palestinians’ tiny hope of full membership in the UN, unsurprisingly vetoing in the Security Council a demand castigated by their Israeli ally, in the midst of the war in Gaza. Switzerland abstained.
The Palestinian authority of Mahmoud Abbas castigated the American veto, seeing it as a “blatant aggression” which pushes the Middle East “to the brink of the abyss”.
For several weeks, the Palestinians, who have had the lower status of “non-member observer state” since 2012, as well as the Arab countries have implored the Security Council to accept that a “Palestinian state” already recognized by the majority of capitals take its “legitimate” place within the UN.
“Granting Palestine full membership in the UN would alleviate some of the historical injustice suffered by generations of Palestinians,” Ziad Abu Amr, senior official of the Palestinian Authority, pleaded before the Security Council on Thursday. , in vain.
Delay the vote
The United States, which did everything to delay the vote, did not hesitate to use its right of 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 UN”, received twelve votes against one with two abstentions, those of the United Kingdom and from Switzerland.
“A failure to act would be a serious and unforgivable error. Not waking up today would allow the continuation of injustice and impunity, an eternal shame,” said Algerian Ambassador Amar Bendjama, in vain, 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 veto from a permanent member), then be approved by the general assembly, by a majority of two-thirds.
The United States has continued to repeat in recent weeks that its position “has not changed” since 2011, when the request for membership presented by the President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas was cut short in the face of American opposition, even before reaching the council stage.
Not the right place
They believe that the UN is not the 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 emphasize that American legislation would require them to cut their funding to the UN in the event of Palestinian accession outside of such a bilateral agreement.
The last veto of a state’s membership in the UN dates from 1976, when the Americans blocked entry into Vietnam.
The Israelis also virulently denounced the Palestinian initiative, criticizing the simple fact that the Security Council is examining the Palestinian request which their ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan deemed “immoral”. The Israeli government opposes the two-state solution, defended by a large majority of the international community, including the United States.
The majority of the 193 member states of the UN (137 according to the Palestinian Authority’s count) unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state.
“On the edge of the precipice”
In this context, the UN Secretary General painted a frightening picture of the situation in the Middle East before the Security Council. “The Middle East is on the precipice. The past few days have seen a dangerous escalation, through words and actions,” Guterres said.
“A miscalculation, a bad communication, a mistake, could lead to the unthinkable, a widespread regional conflict which would be devastating for all those concerned, and for the rest of the world,” launched the Secretary General, repeating his condemnation in particular of Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel last weekend.
“It is high time to put an end to the bloody cycle of reprisals,” he pleaded, calling to “move the region away from the precipice”. “Starting with Gaza” where “six and a half months of Israeli military operations have created a humanitarian hell,” he lamented, describing two million Palestinians enduring “death, destruction, denial of humanitarian aid vital”.
Again on Thursday, new Israeli strikes targeted the small strip of land besieged by Israel since October 9. In the last 24 hours, at least 71 additional deaths have been recorded in the Gaza Strip, bringing the death toll, mainly civilians, to 33,970 since October 7, according to the Hamas health ministry.
The war was triggered by the attack on Israel on October 7 by Hamas commandos infiltrated from Gaza, which resulted in the death of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP report based on data. Israeli officials.
