Srinagar, April 19: The United states on Thursday vetoed a globally supported U.N resolution that would have paved a way for Palestine’s full membership at the United Nations. This is the second time the U.S has vetoed the Palestinian cause.
The vote in the 15-member Security Council was 12 in favor, the United States opposed while Britain and Switzerland abstained even as the remaining 12 council members voted yes, Reuters reported.
The resolution would have recommended that the 193-member General Assembly, where there are no vetoes, approve Palestine becoming the 194th member of the United Nations. Some 140 countries have already recognized the state of Palestine, so its admission would have been approved.
Opposing Palestinian attempt to become a full UN member amid Israel’s war on Gaza which since October 7 has killed 33,900 Palestinian humans including 13,900 children while over 76,000 have been injured, the U.S. has let on the 75-year-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict to continue.
United States vetoes Security Council resolution recommending observer State of Palestine be granted full United Nations membership
Result of the vote:
IN FAVOR: 12
AGAINST: 1
ABSTAIN: 2 pic.twitter.com/lvxKeEtThZ— UN News (@UN_News_Centre) April 18, 2024
“The Middle East is on the precipice,” said U.N Secretary General, Antonio Guterres earlier while addressing the council.
“Recent escalations make it even more important to support good-faith efforts to find lasting peace between Israel and a fully independent, viable and sovereign Palestinian state,” Guterres said.
“Failure to make progress towards a two-State solution will only increase volatility and risk for hundreds of millions of people across the region, who will continue to live under the constant threat of violence,” he said.
The Palestinian Authority, headed by President Mahmoud Abbas, exercises limited self-rule in the Occupied West Bank.
Ziad Abu Amr, special envoy of Abbas, earlier asked the U.S.: “How could this damage the prospects of peace between Palestinians and Israelis? How could this recognition and this membership harm international peace and security?”
“Those who are trying to disrupt and hinder the adoption of such a resolution … are not helping the prospects of peace between Palestinians and Israelis and the prospects for peace in the Middle East in general,” he told the Security Council.
Abu Amr said full Palestinian U.N. membership was not an alternative for serious political negotiations to implement a two-state solution and resolve pending issues, adding: “However, this resolution will grant hope to the Palestinian people hope for a decent life within an independent state.”
“Such hope has dissipated over the past years because of the intransigence of the Israeli government that has rejected this solution publicly and blatantly, especially following the destructive war against the Gaza Strip,” AP reported him saying.
Before the vote, U.S. deputy State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said the United States has “been very clear consistently that premature actions in New York — even with the best intentions — will not achieve statehood for the Palestinian people.”
Palestinian membership “needs to be the outcome of the negotiation between Israel and the Palestinians,” U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood said. It “is something that would flow from the result of those negotiations.”