This week, Palestinians were given a seat among the member states at the UN General Assembly, marking a new privilege granted to the Palestinian Authority’s delegation, even though they are not recognized as a full member.
Back in May, the General Assembly overwhelmingly declared that Palestinians should be granted full membership. However, the United States has blocked this move, stating along with Israel that Palestinian statehood should only be acknowledged through a peace agreement.
While the General Assembly’s decision provides the Palestinian delegation with certain new privileges, the resolution still denies them the right to vote or become a member of the Security Council.
As of the 79th General Assembly session, which started on Tuesday, the Palestinians now have the ability to submit proposals and amendments, alongside being seated with member states.
On Tuesday afternoon, Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian Authority’s representative to the UN, sat at a table labeled “State of Palestine” between the representatives of Sri Lanka and Sudan.
“This is not merely a procedural matter. This is a historic moment for us,” commented Egypt’s Ambassador, Osama Mahmoud Abdelkhalek Mahmoud.
Israel expressed strong opposition to the development, just as it had during the adoption of the resolution.
“Any decision and or action that improves the status of the Palestinians, either in the UN General Assembly or bilaterally, is currently a reward… for terrorism in general and the Hamas terrorists in particular,” stated Jonathan Miller, Israel’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations.
In April, during the ongoing Gaza conflict following Hamas’s October 7 attacks in southern Israel, the Palestinians — who have held “non-member observer state” status since 2012 — renewed their campaign for full membership.
Achieving full membership would require not only a General Assembly vote but also a recommendation from the Security Council.
On April 18, the United States, a close ally of Israel, vetoed a Security Council recommendation on the matter.
{Matzav.com}
The UN is just to promote world piece! Soon they will give Israel’s seat away and that piece of legal land will be UNrecognized forever.
They might as well give a seat to the NY Jets (my apologies to Jets fans)
kinnUs l’reshaIm ra lahem v’ra l’olam. (Sanhedrin 71b) ’nuff said about the UN.
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