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In a clear rejection of US policies and leadership in the Middle East, the UN general assembly voted overwhelmingly to back the Palestinian bid for full UN membership. The western media have mostly ignored Friday’s balloting since the widely-anticipated results represent another black eye for Washington. But the outcome of the vote is a blow to the Biden administration’s failed Gaza policy as well as a clear indication that America’s blanket support for Israel’s genocide is increasing Washington’s isolation and irrelevance.
The assembly vote was 143 to 9, which means that US diplomatic influence has eroded to the point where the White House could barely coerce 9 of their most-loyal vassal states to reject the motion. It is imperative that people fully grasp the meaning of this vote, which suggests that the so-called “Rules-Based Order” is a withering fraud that grows more anemic by the day. Additionally, the vote provides compelling evidence that the American Century is officially over and that the vast majority of the world’s nations are no longer willing to comply with Washington’s self-serving edicts.
Naturally, Israel’s envoy to the UN, Gilad Erdan, used the opportunity—not to express his remorse at being a participant in his nation’s sadistic rampage in Gaza—but to scold the other members of the assembly for acting courageously on a matter of principle. Without a trace of irony, Erdan accused the other members of “shredding the UN charter with your own hands. Yes, yes, that’s what you’re doing. Shredding the UN charter.”
What Erdan failed to mention is that Israel holds the world’s record for breaking UN resolutions and has yet to encounter an international law that it won’t break with impunity. Israel decided long-ago that its future depended on its ability to use the world’s biggest bully as its personal bodyguard thus allowing it to ignore any legal or moral restraints on its behavior. This is an excerpt from an article at the UK Guardian:
Friday’s resolution …. does not make Palestine a full member, or give it voting rights in the assembly, or the right to stand for membership of the security council, but the vote was a resounding expression of world opinion in favour of Palestinian statehood, galvanized by the continuing bloodshed and famine caused by Israel’s war in Gaza.
Even before the vote in the assembly on Friday morning, Israel and a group of leading Republicans urged US funding be cut anyway because of the new privileges the resolution granted to the Palestinian mission.
The US mission to the UN, which voted against the resolution, warned that it would also use its veto again if the question of Palestinian membership returned to the security council for another vote.
“Efforts to advance this resolution do not change the reality that the Palestinian Authority does not currently meet the criteria for UN membership under the UN charter,” the mission’s spokesperson, Nathan Evans, said. “Additionally, the draft resolution does not alter the status of the Palestinians as a “non-member state observer mission”. UN general assembly votes to back Palestinian bid for membership, The Guardian
Try to appreciate how hypocritical and morally bankrupt the US position really is. For the last 57 years, Republicans and Democrats alike, have paid lip-service to a two-state solution based on UN Resolution 242 which requires Israel to remove its settlements from Palestinian land in occupied Gaza and the West Bank. “Get off Palestinian land and there will be peace.” That is US policy which is backed-up by international law. But, now, under Biden, the US not only opposes Palestinian statehood (which would improve their chances of getting a fair deal.) but is also providing the money, bombs and logistical support for blowing 2 million Palestinians to smithereens. This is the Biden policy in a nutshell, and—in case you hadn’t noticed—it is a clear departure from more than a half century of US foreign policy. The reason Biden is now commonly referred to as “Genocide Joe” is because he is unilaterally breaking international law by providing material support to Israeli barbarism which makes him—and the United States—equally culpable in the premeditated annihilation of the Palestinian people. Here’s more from the Guardian:
…the resolution also makes plain that “the state of Palestine, in its capacity as an observer state, does not have the right to vote in the general assembly or to put forward its candidature to United Nations organs.”
…. “In essence, it gives the Palestinians the airs and graces of a UN member, but without the fundamental attributes of a real member, which are voting power and the right to run for the security council.”….
Despite the wording in the resolution making clear Palestine would not have a vote, Israel called on the US to cut funding for the UN because of the resolution, and a group of Republican senators announced they were introducing legislation to do that.
…. Senator Mitt Romney said in a written statement. “Our legislation would cut off US taxpayer funding to the UN if it gives additional rights and privileges to the Palestinian Authority and the PLO.” The Guardian
Nice, eh? So, the vote didn’t turn out the way Uncle Sam wanted, so now he’s going to “take his ball and go home.” That’s called, ‘being a crybaby,’ and it helps to explain why more and more leaders are joining an alternate bloc of nations called the BRICS. There’s simply no reason to align oneself with a waning superpower that is so morally corrupted that it believes that mass murder is an acceptable foreign policy. (Note: The other countries that opposed Palestine’s bid for membership were Micronesia, Argentina, Hungary, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea and Israel. The list helps to illustrate the ineffectiveness of US diplomacy which has virtually collapsed under Anthony Blinken.)
Not surprisingly, Russia’s Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia offered the most intelligent analysis. Here’s what he said just prior to the vote:
It is our common duty to correct the historical injustice regarding Palestinian aspirations for their own sovereign unified state, which should have been admitted to the United Nations as early as 1948. We are convinced that Palestine’s full UN membership would help to equalize the starting negotiating positions with Israel, which received is status as a UN member state more than 75 years ago.
Admission of the State of Palestine to the UN would be the first practical step towards a just solution of the Palestinian question on the UN-approved platform and within the universally recognized international legal framework. …..
This process should result in the implementation of the internationally recognized two-state solution providing for Israel coexisting in peace and security with Palestine in the 1967 borders and with the capital in East Jerusalem. For this dialogue to succeed, Israel and Palestine must be on an equal footing in accordance with the decisions of the UN Security Council….
….When this draft resolution is adopted, Palestine… will receive a number of additional opportunities for more effective work in the United Nations General Assembly and at the meetings held under UNGA’s auspices. We see this as an opportunity to at least partially correct the historical injustice against the long-suffering Palestinian people, who have lost an unprecedented number of peaceful lives over the past seven months…
… Palestine must become a full member of the UN…. We believe that the most important element of this draft is contained in its recommendation to the UN Security Council to reconsider Palestine’s application for UN membership. It is a moral obligation for all of us. Only full membership will allow Palestine to join the ranks of other members of the Organization and fully exercise the rights that this status implies. ….The Palestinian people have long deserved it. Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at the 10th Emergency Special Session of the General Assembly
Well said.
Bottom line: Biden and his handlers do not want the Palestinians to have their own state which is why he is assisting Israel in annihilating the native population and replacing them with Jewish settlers. Fortunately, under international law the Occupied Territories will be Palestinian land into perpetuity and there’s nothing the United States or Israel can do about it.
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This article was originally published on The Unz Review.
Michael Whitney is a renowned geopolitical and social analyst based in Washington State. He initiated his career as an independent citizen-journalist in 2002 with a commitment to honest journalism, social justice and World peace.
He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG).
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