UN Faces Historic Test Over Palestine – OpEd

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By Hassan Hanizadeh

As the 66th Session of the UN General Assembly is due to be held in New York, this international organization faces one of the toughest tests in its history.

Topping the agenda of this meeting will be the issue of the formation of a sovereign Palestinian state, the ratification of which requires the yes vote of two thirds of the 193-member UN General Assembly.

The overall result of the negotiations of the Palestinian Authority (PA) with various countries comprising the UN General Assembly shows that thus far 124 countries have voiced their readiness to vote for the bid.

The US, however, has resorted to dispatching intimidating correspondences to 70 African, Asian and Islamic countries to ask them to refrain from voting in favor of the formation of an independent Palestinian state.

According to the international constitutional procedures, the PA should firstly submit the case for the official membership of Palestine in the UN to the UN Secretariat.

The request is then handed to the 15 permanent and non-permanent members of the UN by its secretary general and in the case of its ratification is then referred to the General Assembly.

Though the UN Charter has placed no restrictions on the addition of world countries to this international organization, the ratification of the full membership of Palestine will entail legal ramifications.

Should the UN Security Council approve of Palestine’s full membership, the US, under the influence of the Zionist lobby, has threatened to veto the UN legislation.

Over the past 65 years, the US has vetoed more than 60 Security Council legislations in Israel’s favor.

Should the bid for the Palestine’s membership materialize, the Palestinian nation would no doubt edge closer to the formation of an independent Palestinian government.

In the case of Palestine’s full membership in the UN, according to the international laws and Geneva conventions the Palestinian state would be deemed an Israeli occupied state and can thus defend itself with any possible means.

Also, should Israel venture to raid any of the Palestinian cities, this country can lodge a request to the UN to place Israel under Chapter VII of the UN Charter.

Chapter VII of the UN stipulates that whenever a member country of the UN is identified as a threat to the peace and security of the world, that country can be attacked by the international forces.

Hence, since some time ago the US and some European countries have undertaken extensive measures to obstruct the membership of Palestine in the UN.

On the other hand, the PA contend that a US veto of the Palestinian membership in the UN would more manifestly than ever expose the true nature of this country before the public opinion.

Such a development would open up the global gulf between the northern and southern countries as well as that between Islamic and European countries.

The Arab League is now seriously considering the issue of the Palestinian membership, a move which has worried the Israeli regime.

Qatar as the president and Iran as the vice-president of the 66th round of the UN General Assembly can create a powerful front in favor of the Palestinian nation.

On the other hand, the recent developments in the Arab world and the expulsion of the Israeli ambassadors from Egypt and Jordon show that the Zionist regime is facing a tough situation on the international and regional front.

The revolutionary youths of Egypt and Jordon have recently concluded that dispossessed of internal and regional leverages they are incapable of undertaking the realization of the rights of the Palestinian nation.

Thus, by attacking the Israeli embassies in Cairo and Amman, the Egyptians and the Jordanians underscored the necessity for these two countries to sever diplomatic ties with Israel.

In such an atmosphere, the global community and the United Nations in particular are facing a tough historic test.

United Nation’s failure to ratify the Palestinian membership bid in the coming September Session of the General Assembly under the US and Western sway would pose numerous challenges for the organization.

The Arab youths are asking that how can the UN ratify the membership of Southern Sudan in the span of a couple of hours, but that it refrains from endorsing the Palestinian membership.

The repercussions of the failure of the United Nations in embracing the Palestinian membership bid would lead to the outbreak of a fresh round of violence in the occupied lands and the Arabic region of the Middle East.

The Palestinian nation would naturally resort to violent measures, if it despairs of the legal leverages to attain its legitimate rights.

Such conditions would drive the crisis-hit region of the Middle East towards radical measures, which would culminate in the formation of new extremist groups at the Middle East level.

So, even as it is all but certain that the US would veto the Palestinian membership bid in the United Nations, the move can lead to the dissolution of the UN power.

Press TV

Press TV is a state funded news network owned by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). Its headquarters are located in Tehran, Iran and seeks to counter a western view on news.

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