Palestine: Un General Assembly Approves New Status

On Friday, the United Nations General Assembly adopted with 143 votes in favor a resolution calling on the Security Council to address Palestine's full membership and to grant significant changes to its current status.

Related:

Venezuela: The World Wants Palestine as a Full UN Member

This time the proposal, which received nine votes against and 25 abstentions, needed two thirds of the 193 member states to vote in favor of the draft.

The draft was debated in the forum after the United States stopped the Security Council's full admission process with the use of the veto.

The text submitted on Friday recommends that the Security Council favorably reconsider the question of Palestinian membership in accordance with Article Four of the UN Charter.

It also includes an annex which, on an exceptional and unprecedented basis, lists significant changes to the status of the State of Palestine at General Assembly meetings and conferences, including its order on the list of speakers and seating arrangements.

According to the resolution, this would not only have symbolic significance but would signal a shift in the diplomatic weight of Palestine within the UN system as a whole.

The overwhelming approval of the resolution also confirms international support for a two-state solution to the conflict, adding to the recognition of the Palestinian state by more than 140 UN members.

According to experts, although this step does not grant full membership, the vote acts as a global poll on support for granting Palestine a full seat in the world's main political forum.