‘A historic moment for us’: Palestinians take unprecedented seat at UN General Assembly

Riyad Mansour, Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations, attends the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, 10 September 2024

Rachel Fink reports in Haaretz on 11 September 2024:

Palestinians took a seat among member states for the first time at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, exercising a new right accorded to the delegation despite not being a full member of the organization. A new delegation was present as the 79th General Assembly of the United Nations commenced in New York.

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian envoy to the UN, took his place at a table between Sri Lanka and Sudan labeled “State of Palestine.” Mansour’s seat stemmed from the “rights and privileges” extended to Palestine through the passage of an Arab and Palestinian-sponsored resolution in May, with 143 votes in favor, 19 against and 25 abstentions. The U.S. voted against it, alongside Israel, Argentina, Czechia, Hungary, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and Papua New Guinea.

Previously, Palestine held “non-member observer state” status, which it received in 2012. May’s General Assembly resolution did not give the Palestinians full UN membership but recognized them as eligible to join. As per the resolution, Palestinians can now introduce proposals and amendments and sit among the member states but remain unable to cast a vote or join the Security Council.

Upon the resolution’s adoption, Foreign Minister Israel Katz called the decision a “prize for Hamas,” In a statement after the vote, Katz said: “The absurd decision taken today at the UN General Assembly highlights the structural bias of the UN and the reasons why, under the leadership of UN Secretary-General [Antonio] Guterres, it has turned itself into an irrelevant institution.”

Israel once again denounced the decision on Tuesday. “Any decision and or action that improves the status of the Palestinians, either in the UN General Assembly or bilaterally, is currently a reward… for terrorism in general and the Hamas terrorists in particular,” said Jonathan Miller, Israel’s deputy ambassador to the UN.

Egyptian Ambassador Osama Mahmoud Abdelkhalek Mahmoud spoke to the media after the assembly, saying, “This is not merely a procedural matter. This is a historic moment for us.”

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