While there may not be a State of Palestine, but at the UN “Palestine” will chair a block of some 134 developing countries next year.
The New York Times on Tuesday quoted the Palestinian ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour, as saying that in January “Palestine” will take over the chairmanship form Egypt of what is known as the Group of 77 (G77).
Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, said in response, “The goal of the Group of 77 originally was to facilitate the economic advancement of underdeveloped nations. It is unfortunate that it will now become a platform for spreading lies and incitement. This will most certainly not promote the G77’s goals.”
In 2012 the UN General Assembly upgraded the Palestinian delegation there to that of an “observer state.” Efforts by the Palestinians to gain full membership in the UN as a state, however, failed because the notion did not pass in the Security Council in 2014.
The G77 was formed in 1964 by 77 countries, but now has nearly twice that many members. The group was formed to promote common economic interests.