The vast majority of countries on Earth voted at the United Nations General Assembly to endorse full membership for Palestine.
On May 10, 143 of the UN’s 193 member states supported a resolution that called to make Palestine a full member. However the United States, Israel, and seven small countries, representing just 5% of the global population, stood against the rest of the planet, opposing the measure.
In April, the US government used its veto power in the UN Security Council to kill a resolution that would have allowed Palestine to be recognized as a full member.
Palestine is an observer state in the United Nations, but without the approval of the Security Council, it cannot be admitted as a full member.
The combined population of the nine UN member states that voted against full membership for Palestine is just around 429 million, according to US government statistics:
- United States – 342 million
- Argentina – 47 million
- Czechia – 10.8 million
- Papua New Guinea – 10 million
- Hungary – 9.9 million
- Israel – 9.4 million
- Micronesia – 99,603
- Palau – 21,864
- Nauru – 9,892
Although these countries only represent 5% of the world population, the United States can oppose the will of the international community because it has veto power on the Security Council.
It is thus Washington that is denying the Palestinian people their rights to sovereignty and a state, as enshrined in international law. The only obstacle standing in the way of full UN membership for Palestine is the United States.
President Joe Biden and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken have repeatedly claimed to support a “two-state solution” in Israel-Palestine, but have opposed all attempts at giving the Palestinian people a state.
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
Opposition to Palestinian sovereignty is bipartisan in the US, uniting both the Republican and Democratic Parties.
In March, Biden condemned Hungary’s right-wing President Viktor Orbán as a “dictator”. Orbán is an ally of Trump, whom Biden also ardently criticizes. Yet all three are allied in support of Israel and in opposition to Palestinian sovereignty.
A poll conducted in April found that a majority of Democrats believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Most Republicans do not believe Israel is committing genocide. Biden is therefore allied with Republicans, against the base of his own party.
The General Assembly resolution that was voted on on May 10 asserted that “the State of Palestine is qualified for membership in the United Nations in accordance with Article 4 of the Charter of the United Nations and should therefore be admitted to membership in the United Nations”.
It called to allow “the participation of the State of Palestine in the sessions and work of the General Assembly and the international conferences convened under the auspices of the Assembly or other organs of the United Nations”.
The resolution likewise reaffirmed “the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, including the right to their independent State of Palestine”, and demanded “an end to the Israeli occupation that began in 1967”, which violates international law.
25 countries abstained in the May 10 vote. These included Germany, Italy, and several other European states, along with Canada and Ukraine.
Ukraine’s post-2014, pro-NATO government has allied closely with Israel and opposed Palestinian sovereignty.
Roughly three-quarters of countries on Earth, 143 out of the total 193 UN members states, already have established official diplomatic relations with Palestine. It is principally the West that refuses to do so.
