On May 10, all member states are expected to vote to admit the State of Palestine as the 194th member of the United Nations.
On May 10, the 193 member states of the United Nations can end the war in Gaza and the long-standing suffering of the Palestinian people by voting to admit Palestine as the 194th member state of the UN.
The Arab world has repeatedly declared its readiness to establish relations with Israel as part of the two-state solution. This dates back to the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative and was reiterated during the 2023 Extraordinary Arab-Islamic Summit. On May 16, the region’s leaders will gather for the 33rd Arab League summit, where a new call for peace and stability will probably be launched.
The path to ending the war and normalizing relations in the Middle East is clear. Admit the State of Palestine to the UN, on the 1967 borders, with its capital in East Jerusalem and with control of Muslim holy sites. Then diplomatic relations will be established and the mutual security of Israel and Palestine will be ensured. The vast majority of the world certainly agrees on the two-state solution as enshrined in international law and UN resolutions.
Today, 142 of 193 countries officially recognize the state of Palestine, but the United States has so far blocked Palestine’s membership in the UN, where statehood really matters. Israel continues to nurse its dream – and the world’s nightmare – of the continuation of the apartheid regime. Barbados, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago very recently established diplomatic relations with the State of Palestine, and the General Assembly is poised to vote overwhelmingly in support of Palestinian membership. The unity of the global community for Palestinian political self-determination is also reflected on college campuses in the United States, the United Kingdom and the rest of the world. Students know the torments of apartheid and plausible genocide when they see it; and actively demand an end to the torment.
According to Article 4 of the United Nations Charter, admission is by decision of the General Assembly following a recommendation from the Security Council. On April 18, the Security Council’s vote on Palestinian membership was vetoed by the United States, but with 12 of the Council’s 15 members voting in favor. The UK abstained, as if it had not already wreaked enough damage in the region. Due to the US veto, the General Assembly will take up the issue in an emergency special session on May 10. This vote will demonstrate overwhelming support for Palestinian membership. It will then be taken up by the Security Council.
Our goal is to promote membership in the UN. Peace will never be achieved at the end of another “peace process”, as in the case of the failed Oslo process, nor by the whims of the imperial powers who have perpetually devastated the region. Israeli leaders today are strongly opposed to the two-state solution, while the United States and the United Kingdom staunchly defend the rejection of Israel. The US and UK have repeatedly destroyed the two-state solution while always being in favor of it, but never now. They have favored endless negotiations as Israel continues its system of apartheid, war as a plausible case of genocide and illegal settlements as “facts on the ground.”
By welcoming Palestine as a UN member state, the UN would also take crucial steps to ensure the security of Israel and Palestine. Peace would be enforced by international law and with the support of the UN Security Council, Arab states and, of course, the global community.
This moment has been more than a century in coming. In 1917, Britain declared a province of the Ottoman Empire, which did not belong to it, as a Jewish homeland. The next 30 years were wracked by violence that led to the Nakba and then repeated wars. After the 1967 war, when Israel conquered the last Palestinian lands, it administered an apartheid state. Israeli society has become increasingly hardened, with extremist Israelis and Palestinians on either side of a bitter divide that is only widening. The US and UK have been brazenly and cynically dishonest brokers. Politics in both countries have long been fundamentally Zionist, meaning that both countries have almost always sided with Israel, in defiance of justice and the law.
We have arrived at a truly historic moment to end decades of violence. No more peace processes being compromised by political manipulation. Peace can come through the immediate implementation of the two-state solution, with Palestine’s admission to the UN as the starting point and not the end. Diplomatic recognition should integrate and invite new measures crucial for mutual security. It is time, on May 10, for all UN member states to respect international law and vote for justice and peace.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Tel Aviv Tribune.