Palestinians determined to obtain Security Council’s backing for statehood, says ambassador to UN
In a diplomatic push for international recognition, Palestine is focusing on the UN Security Council, which could provide crucial support for its bid to attain statehood.
Palestine’s ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour, told The National his government was not only seeking an endorsement, but a unanimous recommendation, without any permanent member using a veto.
“We can live with an abstention,” he said, acknowledging the pragmatic approach Palestine is willing to take to achieve its objectives.
Mr Mansour said Palestine is seeking admission through the mechanisms of the UN and for the 1947 partition plan to “become a reality”.
“One [Israel] has it,” he said. “The other one will be seeking it and hopefully will have it very soon.”
Mr Mansour expressed confidence in the support for his nation at the Security Council and the General Assembly. Of the UN’s 193 member states, 139 have recognised Palestine as a full-fledged sovereign state.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned last month during a Security Council meeting that refusal to accept the Palestinians’ right to statehood “would indefinitely prolong
Britain has called for a campaign among ‘all the friends of a Palestinian state’ to make a two-state solution irreversible
a conflict that has become a major threat to global peace and security”.
Britain, which does not recognise Palestine as a sovereign state, has called for a diplomatic campaign among “all the friends of a Palestinian state” to make a two-state solution irreversible.
Writing in The Mail on Sunday, UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron urged Britain and its allies to confirm their commitment to a sovereign Palestinian state and their vision for its composition.
“Crucially, we must state our clear intention to grant it recognition, including at the United Nations,” Lord Cameron said, calling on the Palestinian leadership to form a new government that “can immediately start to deliver”.
Mr Mansour read Lord Cameron’s words “very closely”.
Palestine needs to engage Britain “extensively” on the issue so that “we can have the same understanding that it means the admission of the state of Palestine to
membership”, he said. “Now, if that is possibly the position of the UK, we hope that it can influence the United States in that regard.”
Mr Mansour said Palestine needs to “receive a resolution from the Security Council recommending to the General Assembly to accept the state of Palestine as a member, and therefore for the General Assembly to vote with two-thirds majority to approve that recommendation, which I believe we do have”.
Only the Security Council can grant full recognition of a state, and this cannot happen if one of the five permanent members vetoes its request.
For many years, the US – Israel’s closest ally – has opposed the recognition of Palestine as a state at the bilateral level and within UN bodies.
Washington has said Palestinian statehood should be realised solely through direct talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
“We engaged everyone, including the United States, about two years ago on this issue … Washington decided that they will not be on board,” Mr Mansour said.
But the pursuit of a diplomatic solution to the Gaza conflict has created an opportunity to re-evaluate strategies for advancing discussion on Palestinian statehood.
It comes at a time when the two-state solution, a long-standing international vision for resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, faces significant threats from what Mr Mansour called “the current Israeli extremist rightist government”.
Palestine’s admission to the world body is seen not only as a move towards self-determination, but as a crucial “investment in peace” and in defence of the two-state solution itself, he said.
“It is the international community’s duty to determine the fate of the two-state solution.”
The right to self-determination is an “exclusive right of the Palestinian people alone”, Mr Mansour said, rather than being something Palestine is willing to negotiate or seek permission for.
“It is not up to Israel unilaterally to dictate to us their wishes and to give us the permit to become a member state and to become a state and to exercise our right to self-determination,” he said.
“All these things are not acceptable to us.”