By Matin Jamshidi
TEHRAN - The U.S. on Thursday vetoed a Palestinian request to the United Nations Security Council for full UN membership, blocking the world body’s recognition of a Palestinian state.
The vote in the 15-member Security Council was 12 in favor, the U.S. opposed and two abstentions, the UK and Switzerland.
The move by the U.S. increased the number of its vetos in favor of Israel to 43.
Palestinians currently have non-member observer status, granted by the UN General Assembly in 2012. An application to become a full member with voting rights would have to be approved by the Security Council and two-thirds of the General Assembly.
Addressing the council, UN Secretary General António Guterres strongly backed full membership by Palestine.
“Recent escalations make it even more important to support good-faith efforts to find lasting peace between Israel and a fully independent, viable and sovereign Palestinian state,” Guterres told the council.
“Failure to make progress towards a two-state solution will only increase volatility and risk for hundreds of millions of people across the region, who will continue to live under the constant threat of violence,” the UN chief said.
The United States once again stood against the will of the international community as the only remedy to the decades-long Palestinian wound is establishing an independent Palestinian state.
The U.S. invented an excuse for its unjustified move despite its claims, especially since the start of the Israel-Gaza war, that forming a Palestinian state is the only way to secure the region.
“The United States continues to strongly support a two-state solution. This vote does not reflect opposition to Palestinian statehood, but instead is an acknowledgment that it will only come from direct negotiations between the parties,” deputy U.S. ambassador to the UN, Robert Wood, told the council, the Guardian reported.
Explaining Britain’s abstention, its envoy to the UN, Barbara Woodward, also said: “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.”
Woodward added, “We must start with fixing the immediate crisis in Gaza.”
These excuses and fabrications by the U.S. and Britain are unwarranted and neither convince nor deceive anybody.
Contrary to what the U.S. and Britain claimed, the recognition of a Palestinian State would have put pressure on Israel to give in to the demand by the international community to treat Palestine as a sovereign state.
The veto in favor of Israel comes as the regime has been committing indescribable crimes against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since October 2023.
Now, Israel feels more emboldened to go on with its apartheid policy against Palestinians.
Being unquestionably supported by the West, Israel doesn’t want an independent Palestinian state at all. They want the entire Palestinian land no matter whether Yair Lapid, Naftali Bennett, Benjamin Gantz, Euhd Olmert and Ehud Barak - who are considered less criminal - are in power or butchers like Benjamin Netanyahu and Ariel Sharon.
Some ultra-right parties like Ben Gvir’s Jewish National Front or Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionist Party, who now hold ministerial positions in Netanayu’s cabinet, openly speak about driving out Palestinians from their native land.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz and the regime’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, openly revealed Israel’s ulterior motive. Katz praised the US by saying “terrorism will not be rewarded” and praised Washington for aborting the Palestinian membership. Erdan went on to say that full membership for the Palestinians would be a “prize to terrorists” and would make “any future negotiation almost impossible”.
Designating Palestinians as terrorists is disgusting and appalling. Such designation is just a cover to continue with the project of purging Palestinians from their native land. The Israelis don’t want negotiations with the Palestinians and don’t recognize Palestinians as negotiating partners.
They just want to purge Palestinians from their homeland and the U.S. is helping them to advance their project.
Casting another veto vote in favor of Israel brought more anger against American decision-makers in the world, even in the United States.
The United States is helping Israelis in denying the Palestinians of having their sovereign state.
However, failure to heal the old Palestinian wound will continue to haunt the United States and the region. It would also produce more violent Palestinians and Jews in the future.
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