In case you missed it, the US vetoed a UN Security Council resolution last month which would've essentially paved the way for granting full UN membership to Palestine.
The resolution would have recommended that the 193-member U.N. General Assembly, where there are no vetoes, approve Palestine becoming the 194th member of the United Nations.
This would've likely been approved by the General Assembly by a wide margin, which is why we vetoed it. The US wants Palestine to negotiate with Israel, not with the UN.
Naturally, a few changes were made to this vetoed resolution and it was put up for vote on Friday in the General Assembly, where it passed 143-9 with 25 abstentions.
Essentially, this is the UN General Assembly recommending that the Security Council vote on this new resolution, and it holds no water legally, so time will tell whether or not the Security Council reconsiders this, and whether or not America vetoes again.
The U.N. General Assembly voted by a wide margin on Friday to grant new 'rights and privileges' to Palestine and called on the Security Council to favorably reconsider its request to become the 194th member of the United Nations.
The 193-member world body approved the Arab and Palestinian-sponsored resolution by a vote of 143-9 with 25 abstentions.
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The final draft drops the language that would put Palestine 'on equal footing with member states.' And to address Chinese and Russian concerns, it would decide 'on an exceptional basis and without setting a precedent' to adopt the rights and privileges in the annex.
The draft also adds a provision in the annex on the issue of voting, stating categorically: 'The state of Palestine, in its capacity as an observer state, does not have the right to vote in the General Assembly or to put forward its candidature to United Nations organs.'
The final list of rights and privileges in the draft annex includes giving Palestine the right to speak on all issues not just those related to the Palestinians and Middle East, the right to propose agenda items and reply in debates, and the right to be elected as officers in the assembly's main committees. It would give the Palestinians the right to participate in U.N. and international conferences convened by the United Nations — but it drops their "right to vote" which was in the original draft.
The General Assembly wants to move progressively toward granting Palestine a vote in that body, and this is their lite version of the resolution from last month which had voting rights intact. To be clear, this version would not allow a Palestinian vote in the General Assembly.
So while this is a "win" for the Palestinians, it's not much more than a moral victory. If they want a vote in the General Assembly they'll have to once again come to the negotiating table with Israel and maybe, uhh, agree to some things this time. Or else they'll continue to see vetoes from the US in the Security Council where resolutions hold more water.
A little more background for you before I go:
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas first delivered the Palestinian Authority's application for U.N. membership in 2011. It failed because the Palestinians didn't get the required minimum support of nine of the Security Council's 15 members.
They went to the General Assembly and succeeded by more than a two-thirds majority in having their status raised from a U.N. observer to a non-member observer state. That opened the door for the Palestinian territories to join U.N. and other international organizations, including the International Criminal Court.
In the Security Council vote on April 18, the Palestinians got much more support for full U.N. membership. The vote was 12 in favor, the United Kingdom and Switzerland abstaining, and the United States voting no and vetoing the resolution.
Only a moral victory here, but it seems the tides are shifting. I sure am glad we hold that veto power in the Security Council.
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