Source: CCTV news client
On May 10, local time, the emergency special session of the 10th United Nations General Assembly resumed its convening, at which a resolution was voted to grant more United Nations rights to the State of Palestine. The resolution recommends that the Council reconsider the application of Palestine for membership in the United Nations "favourably speaking".
The day's vote was passed by an absolute majority of 143 votes in favor, 9 against and 25 abstentions. The United States, Israel and other countries voted against.
Before the vote, UN General Assembly President Francis said that the Palestinian-Israeli issue has lasted for more than 70 years, and recent developments show that there is no time to delay in resolving the Palestinian-Israeli issue. He called on Member States to assess the current situation and work for peace, and called on Member States to speak with respect for the United Nations and the General Assembly.
President of the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly Francis: There is no time to be recovered, it is true, we have lost a lot of time, and we once again call on everyone to work for the sake of humanity.
The representative of the United Arab Emirates then introduced the draft resolution and requested that, owing to the urgency of the incident, a vote be taken at 11 a.m. on the same day before the representatives made statements. Before the vote, the representatives of Palestine and Israel also made separate statements.
After the adoption of the resolution, the audience burst into warm applause, and the representatives of many countries lined up to congratulate the representatives of the State of Palestine.
The proposal, written by the United Arab Emirates, recognizes Palestine as a member of the United Nations and recommends that the Security Council reconsider the admission of Palestine as a full Member of the United Nations and grant more rights to Palestine as an observer state.
Earlier, the United States vetoed a draft resolution submitted by Albania on the admission of Palestine as a full Member of the United Nations, submitted by the United States in the Security Council. Subsequently, the Arab and Muslim groups sent a letter to the Office of the President of the General Assembly requesting the resumption of the emergency special session. It is understood that the meeting will continue on the 13th.
According to the Charter of the United Nations, the United Nations cannot admit new Members until both the Security Council and the General Assembly have no objection to the application.
The reporter directly hit the three major points of interest in the new resolution on the state of Palestine
The resolution adopted at the special session of the General Assembly decided to give more United Nations rights to the State of Palestine. Let's take a look at the observation report sent back by the reporter from New York.
CCTV reporter Xu Dezhi: There are a total of nine paragraphs in the implementation of this resolution, and in addition to the content mentioned in the previous relevant resolutions, the new content can be divided into three parts for observation.
The resolution found Palestine eligible for membership in the United Nations
CCTV reporter Xu Dezhi: The first is that the General Assembly has determined that Palestine is eligible for membership in the United Nations. This is a complete refutation of the veto argument put forward by the United States, which voted to reject the draft resolution on Palestine's accession to the United Nations, that is, Palestine does not meet the membership status under Article 4 of the Charter of the United Nations.
The resolution recommends that the Security Council reconsider the application of Palestine for membership
CCTV Xu Dezhi: Second, the resolution recommends that the Security Council reconsider Palestine's application for membership. The mainstream international community, which is equivalent to the representative of the United Nations General Assembly, does not approve of the US veto and demands that the Security Council do it again, and this time on the premise that the international community considers Palestine to be eligible for membership in the United Nations. Of course, General Assembly resolutions are not binding on Member States, so even if the Security Council revisits the issue, the United States can once again veto it. In this regard, the resolution is more like an expression of position.
The resolution reaffirms the rights of Palestine as an observer
CCTV reporter Xu Dezhi: However, the third part is aimed at UN agencies, and in this regard, the UN must abide by the UN General Assembly resolutions. The resolution reaffirms the rights of Palestine as an observer as a whole, and includes in the annex a symbolic arrangement of alphabetical seating in Member States, including the right to make proposals and presentations on behalf of the group, the right to explain vote, the right to be elected to the General Assembly and its Chairmen, and so on. However, the draft resolution stipulates that Palestine does not have the right to vote in the General Assembly and cannot stand for election to a United Nations body such as the Security Council. But even so, the resolution grants almost the right of membership on Palestine, and this decision will take effect from the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, that is, in September this year. We need to continue to observe how this blockbuster decision will affect the development of the Palestinian-Israeli situation in the future, especially on the situation on the ground.
The reporter directly attacked the Palestinian and Israeli representatives' speeches that were-for-tat
At the emergency special session of the UN General Assembly, representatives of Palestine and Israel also made speeches, in which the two sides went toe-for-tat and refused to give in to each other.
CCTV reporter Xu Dezhi: Before the vote, the Palestinian and Israeli ambassadors spoke separately. Mansour, Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations, said that support for Palestine is the mainstream of the international community and that all member states that voted in favor will not regret their decision.
Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations: Our right to self-government and independent statehood, the right to membership in the United Nations, cannot be determined by Israel's veto, it is non-negotiable, it is the birthright of our Palestinians.
CCTV reporter Xu Dezhi: Israel's representative Edan, once again criticized the vote of the UN and the UN General Assembly, saying that the actions of the UN General Assembly violated the requirements of the UN Charter.
Gilad Edan, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations: I am now your mirror image, [I'm going to demonstrate] to show you what your "devastating" vote has done to the UN Charter. You tore up the Charter of the United Nations with your own hands, and that's what you did, to smash the Charter of the United Nations.
CCTV reporter Xu Dezhi: The Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations also responded.
CCTV reporter Xu Dezhi: What is your view on the Israeli representative's attempt to smash the UN Charter and accuse the UN General Assembly of doing so?
Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations: This is an insult to all of us, to the United Nations and to the Charter of the United Nations, and those who do so are testing the patience of Member States, and we are confident that the Member States of the United Nations will one day say that this is enough and that the United Nations can no longer tolerate such behavior.
Palestine's "accession" process
In fact, Palestine applied for membership in the United Nations 13 years ago. Let's turn the clock back to 2011 and see what it was like back then.
In September 2011, Palestine submitted a formal application to then-UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for membership in the UN. However, Palestinian's application for membership in the United Nations was strongly blocked by the United States and Israel. The US insisted that the Palestinians and Israelis should first reach an agreement and threatened to use the veto, and in the end, the Palestinian application could not be submitted to the UN General Assembly for a vote.
White House spokesman at the time, Carney: Palestine will not and cannot obtain statehood through the United Nations.
In November 2012, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution granting Palestine observer status to the United Nations.
Mansour, Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations: Granting Palestine observer status to the United Nations means recognizing the existence of a Palestinian State.
However, observer states do not have the right to vote in the United Nations in contrast to full membership of the United Nations.
On 2 April this year, Mansour, Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations, sent a letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres requesting that Palestine's 2011 application for full membership in the United Nations be reconsidered. Guterres transmitted the letter to the Security Council on 3 April. The Council held a brief meeting on 8 April and agreed to begin its consideration of the issue. This is the first time in 13 years that the Security Council has considered Palestine's application for membership.
On 18 April, the 15-member Security Council voted on a draft resolution recommending to the General Assembly that "the State of Palestine become a Member of the United Nations". The draft received 12 votes in favour, with the United States voting against and two abstentions. The draft could not be adopted because of the veto exercised by the United States, a permanent member.
(Source: CCTV News Client)