By Henry Nwaneri
The United States has vetoed a widely supported resolution to grant Palestine’s request to be recognized as a full member state at the UN Security Council (UNSC), quashing an effort by Palestinian allies to get the world body to back the effort.
12 countries voted in favour of the resolution which was brought for a vote before the 15-member Security Council session in New York on Thursday, the US opposed, while two others Britain and Switzerland abstained.
After vetoing the measure, the US deputy envoy to the UN, Robert Wood, said Washington believes there is no other path to Palestinian statehood than through negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.
“We also have long been clear that premature actions here in New York, even with the best intentions, will not achieve statehood for the Palestinian people,” Wood said.
The resolution was widely expected to fail, as the US, Israel’s staunchest ally holds veto power at the Security Council and had opposed its passage.
To further buttress on the UK abstention, the Guardian quotes the British envoy to the UN, Barbara Woodward, as saying: “We believe that such recognition of Palestinian statehood should not come at the start of a new process, but it doesn’t have to be at the very end of the process,”
Ms Woodward added: “We must start with fixing the immediate crisis in Gaza.”
The Palestinian presidency condemned the US veto as “unfair, unethical and unjustified.”
Mr. Mansour, the Palestinian envoy to the United Nations said, “All we ask for is to take our rightful place among the community of nations — to be treated as equals, equals to other nations and states, to live in freedom and dignity, in peace and security in our ancestral land,”
“Recognition of the State of Palestine and its membership are not enough by themselves to end this illegal occupation,” he added. “But they are the first step towards this urgent and long-overdue goal.”
Associated Press reports this is the second Palestinian attempt to become a full member of the United Nations, and it comes amidst the war in Gaza.
Palestine had submitted a request to the Secretary-General on 2 April, asking that a 2011 request to become a UN Member State be reconsidered.
In 2011, the Security Council considered the request but was not able to find unity in sending a recommendation to the General Assembly, which according to the UN Charter must hold a vote involving its 193 Member States.
Earlier this month, the Security Council sent the latest request to its Committee on the Admission of Member States, which met on 8 and 11 April to discuss the matter.
Palestine has been a Permanent Observer at the UN since 2012, before which it was an observer in the UN General Assembly.
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