WEST BANK (Middle East Eye) – The Palestinian Authority has renewed a bid for full membership at the United Nations, but faces an uphill battle as the United States has warned PA leadership against any such move.
“We are negotiating in good faith with all [UNSC] members,” PA ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour told reporters in New York.
“There is cautious optimism in the atmosphere.”
Several weeks ago, Mansour quietly began consultations in New York with Security Council members over a possible full membership bid, Palestinian, Israeli and U.S. sources told Axios.
The move has been seen as an attempt to break the international gridlock in the so-called peace process. Mansour said that given there is no peace initiative on the table, the issue of full UN membership should move forward.
“This is a policy of the Palestinian leadership and their people from the top down,” he said.
The U.S., a staunch supporter of the occupying regime and as one of five permanent UNSC members with the veto power, has in the past opposed such a drive, saying the UN membership, which is the equivalence of full international recognition of Palestinian statehood, should only occur after the resolution of an agreement for a so-called two-state solution.
Mansour said given that the peace process has been frozen for eight years and that there is no initiative on the table, the issue of full UN membership should move forward.
The American media reported earlier that the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden had urged the Palestinian Authority not to pursue a vote at the UN Security Council on gaining full UN membership, stressing it would likely veto any such move.
In 2012, the UN upgraded Palestine’s status to that of a “non-member state”, a move which granted it de facto statehood status. However, this was done at the General Assembly, where no member has veto power. Non-member status allowed the PA to participate in the UN as a state and sign treaties, but without the full rights granted to member states.