The United Nations General Assembly supports the full membership of Palestine in the UN. The resolution was adopted with 143 votes

The United Nations General Assembly on Friday approved a resolution calling on the UN Security Council to admit Palestine to full UN membership, with 143 votes in favor, nine votes against and 25 abstentions.

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 in the United Nations,” reports CNN.

Before the session began, the US Mission to the UN indicated that if the resolution passed and the application for membership was sent to the Security Council, the US would again impose a veto.

The US mission said the Palestinian Authority does not meet the criteria for UN membership and that the resolution does not resolve concerns previously raised 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 vote in the Security Council had 12 members in favor and one against, in addition to the US veto. Israel praised the US veto, calling the Palestinian offer a “shameful proposal”, while the Palestinian Authority presidency called the veto “unfair, immoral and unjustified”.

In September 2011, the Palestinian Authority failed to win UN recognition as an independent member state. A year later, the UN decided to change the status of the Palestinian Authority from a “non-member observer entity” to a “non-member observer state”, similar to the Vatican.

Emotional speech by Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour

In an emotional speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Friday before the vote, Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour spoke of his people, highlighting the dire 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 stand idly by 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 resilience, 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 while Palestinians will not disappear, “the lives lost and the scars caused cannot be undone.”

Israel’s Foreign Minister condemns the adoption of the resolution

Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Friday condemned the adoption of the UN General Assembly resolution calling on 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 become an irrelevant institution,” Katz said, adding that “the message the UN is sending our suffering region, violence, bears fruit”.

Katz said the decision would further complicate negotiations to release the hostages held in Gaza, providing “a tailwind for Hamas.”

The foreign minister thanked the countries that did not vote in favor of the resolution, which he said had chosen to “stand on the right side of history and morality”.

Publisher: MI

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