The United Nations must grant membership to the state of Palestine and pressure Israel to end the Gaza war, Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour told the General Assembly on Wednesday.
“As we meet here today, Israel is still trying to push Palestinian people out of geography and out of history, its occupation descending to deeper levels. of depravity,” Mansour said.
“An immediate ceasefire long called for by this assembly and demanded by this Security Council is indispensable and can not be delayed any further,” he said, as he accused Israel of massacring and torturing Palestinians.
He spoke at a special debate to protest the United States’s decision to use its veto power at the UN Security Council to block the Palestinian Authority’s bid to become the 194th member of the UN.
“The admission of the State of Palestine to the UN is an unequivocal signal that Palestinian self-determination and statehood are not subject to the whims and will of the extremists in Israel. Our admission to the UN is long overdue. It has been 75 years in the making,” he said.
“We will never accept that the Palestinian people's right to self-determination, to statehood and admission to the UN in any way, would be in any way subject to an Israeli veto,” he said.
“We will not be deterred in our pursuit for freedom,” he said, as he explained that such a step was the only way to preserve a future of peace.
“There are only two paths ahead. One that leads to a shared life and one that leads to common death. The more we wait, the harder it is to embark on the path that leads to just and lasting peace and shared security,” he said.
Mansour said that the PA plans to turn the UNGA on May 10, and through a resolution, call on the UNSC to reconsider its application for admission.
“This is the time for action for accountability.. the time to end complicity is now,” he said,
“If you wonder if you are on the right side of history, ask yourself one question: is what I am doing advocating freedom and peace or enabling continued oppression and conflict?” Mansour asked.
US envoy voices concerns over debate
A US Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood said he was concerned that the UNGA was now holding its second debate on the veto issue, and as such the meeting should not have been held.
He stressed, however, that the Biden administration supported Palestinian statehood, but believed it was best done, through direct talks with Israel for a two-state resolution to the conflict.
It was also unclear if the Palestinians met the technical requirements set out by the UN for statehood, Wood said, noting that Hamas “a terror organization” is still exerting influence in Gaza.
“The US continues to strongly support a two-state resolution,” Wood said.
The US veto of Palestinian statehood at the UNSC “does not reflect opposition to Palestinian statehood, but instead is an acknowledgment that it will only come from direct negotiations between the parties,” Wood said.
Before October 7, the US had worked to promote Palestinian statehood through a normalization deal between Israel and its Arab neighbors, he said.
“This was based on the US judgment that normalization is the most viable pathway to make progress on the ground,” Wood said.