The UNGA resolution will give the Palestinians additional rights and privileges like a seat among the UN members in the assembly hall but they will not be granted a vote. Palestine is currently a non-member observer state, a de facto recognition of statehood that was granted by the U.N. General Assembly in 2012.
ISRAEL WOULD BE MADE ACCOUNTABLE ONE DAY: Munir Akram
Before the voting, Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN Ambassador Munir Akram while addressing the session said Israel had refused the calls by UN General Assembly, the Security Council and even its patrons and friends to halt the massacre of innocents and accept an immediate ceasefire. It has now initiated its assault on Rafah, which the UN Secretary-General has rightly warned, “would be a strategic mistake, a political calamity, and a humanitarian nightmare.
“Indeed, there will come a day, when Israel will be held accountable for the crimes it is committing in Palestine, especially in Gaza today. And, we should work on holding Israel and its leadership accountable for these crimes,” he told the special session of the assembly that passed the resolution calling for grant of membership to Palestine.
“Yet, we heard today insults hurled at the United Nations, at this Assembly and its member states by the Israeli representative. This is an arrogance of the aggressor, and reflects the impunity of the occupier -occupier of the land for over 70 years, trampling the inherent and the Charter given rights of Palestinian people to self –determination. We hope that the Assembly would appropriately respond to such insults.”
He said the General Assembly was asked to take a first step towards a final settlement of the conflict – an important step to rectify the historic injustice against the Palestinian people. It was as a result of this Assembly’s vote in 1947 that Palestine was partitioned between Israel and a Palestinian State. Yet, only Israel is a member of the UN. The Palestinian people have been denied their right to self-determination since 1947. And, after 1967, they have been obliged to live under Israel’s brutal occupation.
The General Assembly can partially redress this historic injustice by admitting Palestine as a full member of the United Nations. It meets all the criteria of membership. Its membership enjoys the support of the vast majority of UN Member States. It is regrettable that Palestine’s membership of the UN has been blocked in 2011 and again two weeks ago by the negative vote of one permanent member of the Security Council.
The ambassador said the adoption of the resolution will be a partial yet vital step towards redressing the historic injustice against the people of Palestine. It will reflect a political reality, which would facilitate the revival of a peace process to realize the universally agreed objective of creating a two-State solution, the objective of establishing a viable and contiguous Palestinian State along the 4 June 1967 borders, with Al-Quds as its capital.
