The picture shows the voting scene of the United Nations General Assembly
In this issue, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution on Palestine's accession to the United Nations, and Erdan "shattered" the UN Charter in public.
On 10 May, at the 10th emergency special session of the UN General Assembly, the issue of admitting Palestine to membership in the UN was discussed, and this historic resolution, which was overwhelmingly adopted by 143 votes in favour, determined that the State of Palestine is eligible for membership in the UN, and the Security Council will reconsider Palestine's application for membership in the UN from a "favourable perspective".
Back in 2011, Palestine submitted a formal application to the United Nations for membership, but the Security Council did not approve it. And the U.S. position on this issue has been tough, so it wasn't until 2024 that it was resubmitted for consideration, but in April, the U.S. used its veto power in the Security Council vote, and the Palestinian application failed again. Therefore, this time the United Nations General Assembly adopted this resolution, which can be said to be the expectation of all.
The picture shows the special session of the General Assembly
Here we need to understand a distinction. The resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly are not mandatory, but mainly have a political significance, and at present, Palestine is still an observer state that is not a member of the UN, and if it wants to formally join as a member, it needs the endorsement of the Security Council. But the United States is here, and as long as it exercises its veto power, Palestine will be firmly trapped at this step. The main purpose of this move of the UN General Assembly is to form a large-scale public opinion voice for Palestine in the international community, to focus international attention on it, and to create favorable conditions for the settlement of the problem.
The United Nations intends to admit Palestine as a full member state in order to calm the current tense situation in the Gaza Strip, and once the Security Council adopts the proposal for Palestinian accession to the United Nations, and Israel continues to attack the Gaza Strip, the United Nations has the right to use military force to stop it. For Israel, this is tantamount to a direct termination of its ultimate goal of eliminating Hamas, so the Israeli side reacts violently to the draft of this proposal every time it is drafted.
Riyad Mansour, Palestinian observer to the United Nations, is pictured
After the vote was passed, the applause in the audience lasted for a long time, and in the course of the subsequent speeches, the representatives of many countries to the United Nations even left their seats to congratulate the permanent observer of Palestine to the United Nations. Interestingly, the camera before the announcement of the vote was also given to the Israeli representative, who is not expected to be in a beautiful mood.
In fact, no matter how much Israel criticizes and obstructs, the adoption of a resolution by the United Nations General Assembly is also a certainty, and many Western countries have expressed their consideration of recognizing the state of Palestine, including the United Kingdom, Spain and other countries have publicly expressed their support, which has considerable pressure on Israel, and has also given birth to Erdan's move to "smash" the UN Charter in public.
Just before the vote in the General Assembly, Israel's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Erdan, made another provocative statement, arguing that the meeting was "tearing up the Charter of the United Nations" and using a small paper shredder to shred a copy of the Charter of the United Nations, and finally throwing down the sentence "What you have done is truly shameful".
The picture shows Erdan smashing the UN Charter
It has been noted that we say that Erdan is "again" provocative, the same arrogant statement at the UN, and this is not the first time. Shortly after the outbreak of the current round of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, on December 6, 2023, UN Secretary-General António Guterres proposed that the Security Council should take action on the situation in the Gaza Strip under Article 99 of the UN Charter.
Article 99 of the Charter of the United Nations means that the Secretary-General of the United Nations may bring to the attention of the Security Council matters that he has identified as a threat to international peace and security.
The last time a UN secretary-general invoked this clause was in 1971, when then-Secretary-General U Thant cited it. In fact, since the establishment of the United Nations, the Secretary-General has rarely invoked this clause, and Guterres has used it for the first time since he became the Secretary-General of the United Nations, which shows that the situation in the Gaza Strip has reached a very tense level.
Here, Erdan quit and directly issued an article on the same day saying that Guterres' "moral level has fallen to a new low" and accusing him of being "unqualified" to serve as the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
A few days ago, during his speech at the United Nations meeting on May 1, Erdan lashed out at the draft that would allow Palestine to become a full member of the United Nations, openly threatening that "the days ahead of the United Nations are numbered." He also claimed that even elite universities such as Harvard and Columbia University "have Hamas lurking."
On 6 May, Erdan again threatened the United States to "withdraw funds," saying that as long as the United Nations agreed to the proposal for Palestine to join the United Nations, the United States would completely stop funding the United Nations and its agencies.
Pictured are Israeli soldiers
There is one more detail worth noting. In his speech to the Security Council on October 30, 2023, Erdan publicly wore a yellow six-pointed star symbolizing the persecution of Jews. At that time, it was the time when a large number of Israeli ground troops entered the Gaza Strip, and the UN Security Council held an emergency meeting on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the same day. At the meeting, Erdan strongly accused the Security Council of being "silent" about the Hamas attack and wore a yellow six-pointed star emblem to express strong anger.
Erdan's actions caused an immediate public outcry, and this obvious humiliating and discriminatory sign of Jews caused considerable controversy and criticism both inside and outside Israel, but many Europeans showed deeper sympathy for the Jews. At that time, not long after the current round of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict began, Israel used this image of a "victim" to win international sympathy, but then the humanitarian crisis caused by Israel in the Gaza Strip made this "victim" instantly become an "abuser".
The picture shows the Gaza Strip in ruins
The adoption of the UN General Assembly resolution shows the attitude of the majority of countries, and the subsequent Palestine wants to formally become a member of the country, which still needs the joint efforts of the international community. After Erdan smashed the UN Charter, the deputy spokesman of the UN Secretary-General said, "I have been in the UN for a long time, and I have watched too many dramas." How this "play" will be "played" depends on Israel's attitude in the future.
"True courage is to choose peace when you know that conflict is inevitable." Courage and wisdom are equally important in dealing with international conflicts and in advancing the peace process. The international community should continue its efforts to promote reconciliation between Palestine and Israel through dialogue and cooperation and contribute to the realization of long-term peace and stability in the Middle East.