Jakarta (MidLand) – Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Riyad Mansour stressed that the increase in countries recognizing Palestinian sovereignty will put increasing pressure on the United Nations Security Council to accept Palestine as a full member.
At a press conference at the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs compound in Jakarta on Thursday, Mansour said Palestine had met all the criteria to be recognized as a country and take on a role in the United Nations.
“The increase in countries recognizing the State of Palestine will make it increasingly difficult for a country that has a veto in the UN Security Council to say ‘no,'” Mansour said, referring to the United States, which often vetoes draft resolutions regarding Palestinian accession.
He said that there are currently 149 countries that recognize Palestinian sovereignty, and the number will surely continue to increase. Among the countries that have recently recognized Palestine are Spain, Ireland and Norway in May 2024, followed by Armenia in June 2024.
This broad recognition, he said, should be sufficient to convince the UN Security Council to accept Palestine as a full member.
“However, if they are still not convinced, we must step up our pressure, especially now that we are supported by 149 countries,” Mansour said.
The Permanent Representative of Palestine to the UN believes that the growing pressure will overcome the resistance of the permanent members of the UN Security Council to the Palestinian accession, as has happened in the past.
He highlighted the period when the number of full members of the United Nations did not increase at the beginning of the Cold War era due to the permanent members of the UN Security Council, the Soviet Union and the United States vetoing each other’s membership proposals from opposing camps.
Ultimately, the two superpowers reached a balance and agreed to accept new members from both camps simultaneously, he said.
The most recent increase in Palestine’s membership in the United Nations occurred in November 2012, when the United Nations General Assembly approved Palestine’s status as a “non-member observer State” through Resolution No. 67/19.
Meanwhile, the international community, including Indonesia, continues to fight for Palestine to become a permanent member of the UN even though it continues to face US vetoes every time it is brought before the UN Security Council, as it did in April 2024.
Amid the US veto on Palestinian membership, the UN General Assembly decided in May 2024 to grant full membership privileges to Palestine through resolution ES-23/10.
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Reporter: Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Atman Ahdiat
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