Nader K Alturk
On Friday 10 May 2024, a sweeping vote was held, representing an international consensus, in the United Nations General Assembly, on a resolution affirming the right of the State of Palestine to obtain full membership, and granting it additional rights and privileges in the United Nations and its various institutions and arms. (143) countries voted in favor of the resolution, while (9) countries opposed, while (25) countries abstained from voting.
This resolution confirms that the State of Palestine fulfills all the conditions stipulated in the Charter of the United Nations, especially Article Four, and thus it deserves and qualifies for full membership in the United Nations. This is considered a clear message of confirmation from the international community of the natural, legal, and historical right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and their aspirations. Towards liberation and independence and living on its land in security and peace like the rest of the peoples of the world, and this step comes within the efforts aimed at protecting and preserving the two-state solution based on ending the colonial occupation and the Israeli apartheid system and achieving peace and stability in the region, despite the historical injustice that has afflicted the Palestinian people since the Nakba. In the year 1948 and until now, strengthening Palestine’s position in the United Nations is an enhancement of peace and solutions based on multilateral diplomacy, based on international law, and the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.
Although 12 member states in the Security Council agreed to grant the State of Palestine full membership in the United Nations, the United States of America once again used its veto in favor of the Israeli occupation on April 17, 2024, in order to prevent the State of Palestine from obtaining full membership in the United Nations.
It is believed that as long as the United States of America – whose presidents and leaders brag about being Zionists – is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, the State of Palestine will not obtain full membership.
It is believed that the only way is a diplomatic and media campaign to delegitimize Israel, focusing on the Israelis’ permanent and ongoing violation of the rules of international law, their non-compliance with international legitimacy resolutions, and their disregard for United Nations resolutions, even though their state was established by a United Nations resolution 181 of 1947, and the focus is on genocide, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip.
It is also believed that it is necessary for the aforementioned campaign to include a broad focus on United Nations Resolution No. 273, according to which Israel obtained full conditional membership in the United Nations, as its membership is conditional on the implementation of UN Resolutions 181 and 194 regarding the division of the historic land of Palestine into two states and the return of Palestinian refugees to their immigrant cities and villages. Including the year 1948, compensation for their suffering and the use of their property.
Therefore, Israel’s failure to fulfill the conditions for its membership in the United Nations first requires its expulsion from the United Nations before demanding full Palestine membership therein, and then for every recent incident. With returning the Palestinian issue to its roots by returning it to the United Nations to fully implement Resolutions 181D and 194, because there cannot be a negotiated solution to the Palestinian issue with an American vision that may not go beyond what Donald Trump offered in the deal of the century, which still exists and has not been canceled or undone by the United States despite It was born dead, which makes any negotiations, whatever they are, absurd and a waste of the time that the Israelis will invest in stealing more Palestinian land, building settlements, Judaizing Jerusalem, normalization with Arab and Islamic countries…etc.
UN resolution 273 (III) on 11 May 1949. Admission of Israel to membership in the United Nations:
Having received the report of the Security Council on the application of Israel for membership in the United Nations,1/
Noting that, in the judgment of the Security Council, Israel is a peace-loving State and is able and willing to carry out the obligations contained in the Charter,
Noting that the Security Council has recommended to the General Assembly that it admit Israel to membership in the United Nations,
Noting furthermore the declaration by the State of Israel that it “unreservedly accepts the obligations of the United Nations Charter and undertakes to honour them from the day when it becomes a Member of the United Nations”,2/
Recalling its resolutions of 29 November 1947 3/ and 11 December 1948 4/ and taking note of the declarations and explanations made by the representative of the Government of Israel 5/ before the ad hoc Political Committee in respect of the implementation of the said resolutions,
The General Assembly,
Acting in discharge of its functions under Article 4 of the Charter and rule 125 of its rules of procedure,
- Decides that Israel is a peace-loving State which accepts the obligations contained in the Charter and is able and willing to carry out those obligations;
- Decides to admit Israel to membership in the United Nations.
(For more details please read on United Nations website resolution 181 on 29 November 1947 and resolution 194 on 11 December 1948)
Accordingly, the Israelis ignore all international legitimacy resolutions, United Nations resolutions, public international law, international humanitarian law, and human rights principles, and the continuation of the Israeli aggression against our Palestinian people since 1948, which has been escalating since October 7, 2023 AD, and the discovery of mass graves in all areas of the Gaza Strip, and the continuation and escalation of the policy of punishment. The collective imposition of the siege by the Palestinian people, depriving civilians of electricity, water, food, and medicine, and confiscating lands in the West Bank for settlement purposes, confirms that the Israelis, army, government, and settlers, are committing war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and ethnic cleansing, which confirms categorically and beyond doubt that Israel is a state that loves aggression and war. It is hostile to peace and does not accept the obligations contained in the United Nations Charter and is neither able nor willing to implement those obligations.
It is believed that the ongoing war against the Palestinian people will not end as long as the Israeli goal is to transfer our people in the Gaza Strip to Sinai. Therefore, 80% of the buildings in the Gaza Strip were destroyed, 32 hospitals out of 36 were destroyed, most of the schools and all universities were destroyed, and civilian homes, institutions, factories, companies and infrastructure were destroyed with the aim of transforming… The Gaza Strip has become a place that does not provide the most basic necessities of life, so that its plans to displace our people can succeed.
It is believed that the war will not end as long as the support of Western countries, especially the United States of America, continues blindly and unlimitedly, the latest of which is the US Congress’ approval of aid to the Israelis worth $26 billion, including $17 billion in military support, whereby the Israelis will be provided with more bombs and weapons to kill more Palestinian civilians, and what is strange is that despite all the financial and economic crises that Western countries and the United States of America are facing and problems in financing social welfare and health care programs for their people, they find enough money to support the Israeli occupation and provide it with weapons to kill our Palestinian people.
Therefore, what is required is to stop supplying weapons to the Israelis and declare Netanyahu, his government, and the leaders of his army as war criminals who must be arrested and tried, just as Nazi leaders were arrested and tried after World War II for their crimes against the Jews and against other ethnic groups in Europe.
What raises hope that humanity will become more humane is the popular movement in all Western countries and the United States of America, and the movement of students in American and European universities against the Israeli occupation and the genocide of our Palestinian people indicates that future leaders who will lead Western governments, civil society and the American Congress will be supportive of Palestine and realize that it is being exhausted. Their country’s financial, economic, and military capabilities serve the Zionist colonial project in Palestine at the expense of the future of their country, their people, and future generations. What is striking about the statements of American university students is that they do not talk about the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories in 1967, but rather consider the establishment of Israel as a state on the land of Palestine in 1948 to be the true beginning. The occupation and that what happened at that time was the usurpation of the land of Palestine by Zionist settlers who came from nowhere to occupy the land of the Palestinian people and plunder their property to establish their Zionist state. The movement of American and Western students began to see that their democracy, economy, and political system were stolen, plundered, and controlled by the Zionist lobby. Therefore, change in favor of Palestine has begun and will never stop.
One of the advantages of the student movement in universities in the United States of America is that it revealed that Israeli technological development is not their own efforts and capabilities, but rather the result of close cooperation for many years with American and Western universities in various fields. Which confirms that without American and Western support, Israel would be at the bottom of the list of countries in the world in terms of technological, economic, financial, military development…etc.
What is required of Western countries and the United States of America is to adhere to the resolutions of international legitimacy and the rules of international law, to stop their political, economic, financial, technological, and military support for the Israelis, to adhere to the resolutions of international legitimacy regarding Palestine, and to work to thwart the Israeli plan to displace the Palestinian people outside Palestine, whether they are in the Gaza Strip or the West Bank, including Palestinians living in Jerusalem and 2 million Palestinians who hold Israeli citizenship, which aims to achieve one of the lies that established their state on the land of Palestine, that Palestine is a land without a people for a people without a land, and thus replacing the Palestinian people with more Zionist settlers.
This requires diligent and serious work to implement Security Council Resolution 2334 of 2016 regarding the illegality of confiscating Palestinian lands and building settlements, and implementing Resolution 67/19 of 2012 and all United Nations resolutions related to Palestine.
What is required is for the United States of America to adhere to international legitimacy resolutions regarding settlements and to back away from the Deal of the Century issued during the era of President Donald Trump, which ignored international law and United Nations resolutions and tried to consider the Israeli settlements on Palestinian lands as legitimate and legal.
What is happening in Gaza are war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and ethnic cleansing. All of humanity is required to unite and consider Benjamin Netanyahu, Ben Gvir, Smotrich, the Israeli leaders, and the leaders of the Israeli army as war criminals, and to arrest them in any country they visit, even if it is the United States of America, as was done. The Nazis were arrested for their crimes against Jews and ethnic minorities in Europe during World War II.
It is believed that the Israeli security, technological and military failure on October 7, 2023, Israel’s inability to defend itself against Iranian missiles and drones, and its need for the United States of America, Britain and other countries to confront the Iranian attack, all of this confirms that hundreds of billions in military support have been provided to the Israelis since 1948 until today. It did not qualify it to become a regional power capable of defending itself alone!! Which raises questions about the extent of Israel’s future importance in defending the interests of the United States of America and Western countries in the Middle East and North Africa region!! Which will prompt the United States of America and Western countries to urgently search for another strategic partner that is more efficient and capable of defending their interests in the region.
The writer is Deputy Head of Mission in Embassy of the State of Palestine , Pakistan