UN General Assembly embraces a phantom “State of Palestine”
The United Nations General Assembly’s determination that the State of Palestine is qualified for membership in the United Nations in accordance with Article 4 of the Charter of the United Nations.
Its recommendation that the Security Council reconsider the matter favourably – is destined to be rejected by the Security Council again – as happened on 18 April 2024.
143 out of 193 member states voted in favour of this nonsensical Resolution. They apparently have no understanding of what the “State of Palestine” needs to substantiate before the Security Council recommends it for membership.
For their edification – Article 4 of the UN Charter stipulates:
- Membership in the United Nations is open to all other peace-loving states which accept the obligations contained in the present Charter and, in the judgment of the Organization, are able and willing to carry out these obligations.
- The admission of any such state to membership in the United Nations will be effected by a decision of the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.
Firstly – “The State of Palestine” embraced by the General Assembly is not a “state” because it does not possess the following four qualifications required by the 1933 Montevideo Convention:
(a) A permanent population;
(b) A defined territory;
(c) Government; and
(d) Capacity to enter into relations with the other states.
Secondly – Can the General Assembly seriously claim that its phantom “State of Palestine” or any legally-recognised “State of Palestine” – governed by either the PLO or Hamas – would be ”peace-loving” – following the murder, rape, hostage-taking, and deliberate gutting and burning of houses leading to the forced displacement of 150000 Israelis on 7 October 2023?
The PLO Charter declares:
- Palestine, with the boundaries it had during the British Mandate, is an indivisible territorial unit.
- The Palestinian Arab people possess the legal right to their homeland and have the right to determine their destiny after achieving the liberation of their country in accordance with their wishes and entirely of their own accord and will.
The Charter of Hamas – the PLO’s rival for governing any “State of Palestine”– proclaims:
- The Islamic Resistance Movement “Hamas” is a Palestinian Islamic national liberation and resistance movement. Its goal is to liberate Palestine and confront the Zionist project. Its frame of reference is Islam, which determines its principles, objectives and means.
- Palestine, which extends from the River Jordan in the east to the Mediterranean in the west and from Ras al-Naqurah in the north to Umm al-Rashrash in the south, is an integral territorial unit. It is the land and the home of the Palestinian people. The expulsion and banishment of the Palestinian people from their land and the establishment of the Zionist entity therein do not annul the right of the Palestinian people to their entire land and do not entrench any rights therein for the usurping Zionist entity.
Whilst the General Assembly engages in pursuing this mindless farce – a solution that could end the 100-years-old conflict between Arabs and Jews remains unexplored and unconsidered by the General Assembly: The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution (HKOPS) – initially published in the Saudi Government-controlled Al Arabiya News on 8 June 2022.
HKOPS calls for the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank into one new territorial entity to be governed by Jordan’s current Hashemite rulers – with its capital being located in Amman.
HKOPS meets the requirements of the Montevideo Convention and article 4 of the UN Charter – whilst trashing the General Assembly’s phantom “State of Palestine”
The General Assembly needs to explain why it has refused to consider implementing HKOPS for the last 23 months.
Please join my Facebook Page: “Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine supporters”
Author’s note: The cartoon — commissioned exclusively for this article — is by Yaakov Kirschen aka “Dry Bones”- one of Israel’s foremost political and social commentators — whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades.
David Singer is a Sydney lawyer and a foundation member of the International Analysts Network
Thank you for spelling out the legal position so clearly., Obviously there is no chance for peace with Hamas who want to eliminate Israel, and a solution with a Palestinian entity is also extremely dubious.
Perhaps now is the time to discuss and explore the Saudi plan of 2022, to see if another option can bring peace to the region.
Judy Marks
The 2022 Saudi Plan trashes any idea of an independent “State of Palestine” being admitted as a member of the UN – but the Saudi Plan to create a new territorial entity named the “Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine” would certainly qualify legally for full UN membership.
An independent “State of Palestine” between Israel and Jordan is dead in the water – especially after the atrocities committed on 7 October 2023 when Gaza invaded Israel. The UN needs to recognise this new reality by rescinding Resolution 2334 passed on 23 December 2016 and throw its weight and support behind admitting the “Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine” to membership of the UN.
The UN needs to move urgently to make this Saudi solution happen – before the region becomes one giant killing field. The UN’s total silence on the Saudi solution for the last 2 years is shameful and now threatens world peace that will impact on all 193 member states of the UN.