Large parts of the global community are supporting the Palestinians in the midst of the Gaza war: They are getting more rights at the UN – and international pressure on the USA is increasing.
The United Nations General Assembly is significantly strengthening the role of the Palestinians within the largest UN body. A resolution passed with an overwhelming majority in New York on Friday also calls on the crucial UN Security Council to “benevolently” consider full membership for Palestine.
The United Nations General Assembly is significantly strengthening the role of the Palestinians within the largest UN body. A resolution passed overwhelmingly in New York on Friday grants the observer state of Palestine significantly expanded participation in General Assembly sessions, but does not give it regular voting rights. In addition, the body with 193 member states called on the crucial UN Security Council to “benevolently” consider full membership for Palestine.
143 countries voted for the resolution, nine states voted against it. 25 countries abstained – including Germany, which does not recognize Palestine as an independent country. Israel’s closest ally, the USA, rejected the request, as did Hungary and Argentina. The Federal Republic justifies its abstention with the words: “Germany firmly believes in two states, Israel and Palestine, for two peoples in the Middle East. We share the goal of a Palestinian state.”
If immediate full membership would end all the suffering we are experiencing, we would have voted yes today, according to the diplomatic statement from the German UN representatives. But before that, peace must be created. And “only direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians” would lead to this.
By adopting the resolution, the UN General Assembly states that the “State of Palestine (…) should be admitted to membership in the United Nations” – the Security Council should “reconsider this favorably”. Just hours earlier, the USA had confirmed that it would again use its right of veto in the most powerful UN body with its 15 members in this case. Against the backdrop of the Gaza war, the vote was also seen as an indication of the international mood regarding the recent escalations in the Middle East conflict. At the United Nations, there is a clear majority for resolutions critical of Israel or pro-Palestinian. There is no right of veto in the general assembly.
Pro-Palestinian vote puts US under pressure
The now adopted bill called “Draft Resolution on the Admission of New Members to the United Nations” and the clear pro-Palestinian vote now put the USA under further pressure amid growing criticism of Israel’s conduct of the war in the Gaza Strip. The US government takes the position that an agreement with Israel on a two-state solution would be a prerequisite for recognizing full UN membership for Palestine. Applications for membership in the UN Security Council therefore failed in mid-April and as early as 2011. The UN Charter stipulates that the admission of a new member state takes place on the “recommendation of the Security Council by resolution of the General Assembly”.
In the UN General Assembly, the Palestinians will now be allowed to behave in a similar way to normal members: representatives of Palestine are also allowed to speak on topics that have nothing to do with the Middle East conflict. They can also submit amendments to resolutions or propose new agenda items and carry out functions within the plenary session. The draft calls on other United Nations bodies to grant Palestine similar rights. But it is also emphasized that Palestinians have no voting rights and are not allowed to run for UN bodies.
The vote in the general assembly also caused unrest among the most influential countries, the USA, China and Russia, because they fear a loss of control in the upgrading of regions whose statehood is controversial. In this context, names such as Kosovo, Taiwan and Nagorno-Karabakh were mentioned. The text of the adopted draft resolution therefore emphasizes that the case of Palestine is an exception “without creating a precedent.”
Germany does not recognize Palestine as an independent country
Of the 193 UN member states, more than 130 have so far recognized Palestine as an independent country. Germany – like the USA – is not one of them. In 2012, Palestine – similar to the Vatican – was upgraded to a non-member observer state at the United Nations, with 138 votes in favor.
