UN Welcomes State of Palestine
New York, 16 Muharram 1434/30 November 2012 (WAFA/MINA) – The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a resolution on Thursday to upgrade Palestine to a “non-member state” at the United Nations, implicitly recognizing a Palestinian state.
There were 138 votes in favor, nine against and 41 abstentions.
Addressing the assembly in New York ahead of the vote, President Mahmoud Abbas said the UN bid was the last chance to save the two-state solution.
“Sixty-five years ago on this day, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 181, which partitioned the land of historic Palestine into two states and became the birth certificate for Israel,” Abbas told the 193-nation assembly after receiving a standing ovation.
“The General Assembly is called upon today to issue a birth certificate of the reality of the State of Palestine,” he said.
The president told the UN that Israel’s war on Gaza highlighted the urgency of ending the Israeli occupation.
“It also reaffirmed the Israeli government’s adherence to the policy of occupation, brute force and war,” he said.
“We believe that the international community is standing before the last chance of the two-state solution.”
Flood of threats
“We’ve listened for the last months to the incessant flood of threats in response to our peaceful, political and diplomatic request in the UN and have watched (Israel’s) war on Gaza,” Abbas said.
“We haven’t heard one word from any Israeli official expressing sincere concern for the peace process.”
At least 17 European nations voted in favor of the Palestinian resolution, including Austria, France, Italy, Norway and Spain. Abbas had focused his lobbying efforts on Europe, which supplies much of the aid the Palestinian Authority relies on. Britain, Germany and others chose to abstain.
The Czech Republic was unique in Europe, joining the United States, Israel, Canada, Panama and tiny Pacific Island states likes Nauru, Palau and Micronesia in voting against the move.
Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu immediately condemned Abbas’ speech as “hostile and poisonous”, and full of “false propaganda”.
“These are not the words of a man who wants peace,” Netanyahu also said in a statement released by his office after Abbas spoke.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the vote “unfortunate and counterproductive,” saying it puts more obstacles on the path to peace.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice called for the immediate resumption of peace talks.
“The Palestinian people will wake up tomorrow and find that little about their lives has changed save that the prospects of a durable peace have only receded,” she said.
“The United States calls upon both the parties to resume direct talks without preconditions on all the issues that divide them and we pledge that the United States will be there to support the parties vigorously in such efforts,” Rice said.
She added that both parties should “avoid any further provocative actions in the region, in New York or elsewhere.”
The move falls short of full UN membership which needs sanction by the Security Council, where the US wields a veto. But it allows Palestine access to the International Criminal Court and other international bodies.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 67TH
PLENARY MEETING: 44
RECORDED VOTE ADOPTED
RESOLUTION 67/19
SUBJECT: STATUS OF PALESTINE IN THE UN: 138 votes in favor, nine against and 41 abstentions.
Date : 29 November 2012
Time : 4:59 PM
Vote : 1
Yes : 138
No : 9
Abstain : 41
No Respons : 5
No Palestine – 9
1.Canada
2.Czech Republic
3.Israel
4.Marshall Islands
5.Micronesia (FS)
6.Nauru
7.Palau
8.Panama
9.United States
Pro Palestina – 138
1.Afghanistan
2.Algeria
3.Angola
4.Antigua –Barbuda
5.Argentina
6.Armenia
7.Austria
8.Azerbaijan
9.Bahrain
10.Bangladesh
11.Belarus
12.Belgium
13.Belize
14.Benin
15.Bhutan
16.Bolivia
17.Bostwana
18.Brazil
19.Brunei Darussalam
20.Burkina Faso
21.Burundi
22.Cambodja
23.Cape Verde
24.Central Africa Republic
25.Chad
26.Chile
27.China
28.Comoros
29.Congo
30.Costa Rica
31.Cote D’Ivoire
32.Cuba
33.Cyprus
34.Democratic People Republic of Korea
35.Denmark
36.Djibouti
37.Dominica
38.Dominican Republic
39.Ecuador
40.Egypt
41.El Salvador
42.Eritrea
43.Ethiopia
44.Finland
45.France
46.Gabon
47.Gambia
48.Georgia
49.Ghana
50.Greece
51.Greenada
52.Guinea
53.Guinea – Bissau
54.Guyana
55.Honduras
56.Iceland
57.India
58.Indonesia
59.Iran
60.Iraq
61.Ireland
62.Italy
63.Jamaica
64.Japan
65.Jordan
66.Kazakhstan
67.Kenya
68.Kuwait
69.Kyrgystan
70.Lao PDR
71.Lebanon
72.Lesotho
73.Libya
74.Liechtenstein
75.Luxembourg
76.Malaysia
77.Maldives
78.Mali
79.Malta
80.Mauritania
81.Mauritius
82.Mexico
83.Morocco
84.Mozambique
85.Myanmar
86.Nambia
87.Nepal
88.New Zealand
89.Nicaragua
90.Niger
91.Nigeria
92.Norway
93.Oman
94.Pakistan
95.Peru
96.Philippines
97.Portugal
98.Qatar
99.Russian Federation
100.St Kitts-Nevis
101.Saint Lucia
102.St Vincent-Gren
103.S Tome Principe
104.Saudi Arabia
105.Senegal
106.Serbia
107.Seychelles
108.Sierra Leone
109.Solomon Island
110.Somalia
111.South Africa
112.South Sudan
113.Spain
114.Sri Lanka
115.Sudan
116.Suriname
117.Swaziland
118.Sweden
119.Switzerland
120.Syrian Arabic
121.Tajikistan
122.Thailand
123.Timor Leste
124.Trinidad Tobago
125.Tunisia
126.Turkey
127.Turkmenistan
128.Tuvalu
129.Uganda
130.Uni Arabic Emirates
131.UR Tanzania
132.Uruguay
133.Uzbekistan
134.Venezuela
135.Vietnam
136.Yemen
137.Zambia
138.Zimbabwe
Abstain – 41
1.Albania
2.Andorra
3.Australia
4.Bahamas
5.Barbados
6.Bosnia / Herzegovina
7.Bugaria
8.Cameroon
9.Colombia
10.Croatia
11.Dem Rep of Congo
12.Estonia
13.Fiji
14.Germany
15.Guatemala
16.Haiti
17.Hungary
18.Latvia
19.Lithuania
20.Malawi
21.Monaco
22.Mongolia
23.Montenegro
24.Netherlands
25.Papua New Guinea
26.Paraguay
27.Poland
28.Rep of Korea
29.Rep of Moldova
30.Romania
31.Rwanda
32.Samoa
33.San Marino
34.Singapore
35.Slovakia
36.Slovenia
37.TFYR Macedonia
38.Togo
39.Tonga
40.United Kongdom
41.Vanuatu
Non Respons – 5
1.Equat Guinea
2.Kiribati
3.Liberia
4.Madagascar
5.Ukraine
(T/R-014/R-022/R-006)
