END THE VETO! ONE VOTE BLOCKED THE DEAFENING CALL FOR JUSTICE FOR PALESTINE
May 12, 2024During a recent session of the UN General Assembly, the Maldives’ 🇲🇻 Minister of Housing, Dr Ali Haidar Ahmed, made a powerful plea for Palestine’s 🇵🇸 UN admission, but more importantly explained why the VETO power of the permanent members of the UN Security Council must END.
The U.S.’s recent veto of a resolution by the 14 members of the Security Council in April to confirm Palestine’s status as a full member of the United Nations has made a mockery of the institution and caused the vast majority of members to criticize the veto power calling for its dissolution.
Palestine has non-member observer status, at the UN. which precludes it from the right to vote on General Assembly resolutions or nominate any candidates to U.N. agencies.
However, following yesterday’s vote of the GA, the resolution now gives Palestinians new diplomatic privileges. Palestinians can now sit among member states in alphabetical order; they can speak at General Assembly meetings on any topic instead of being limited to Palestinian affairs; they can submit proposals and amendments; and they can participate at U.N. conferences and international meetings organized by the Assembly and other United Nations entities.
THIS WAS A HUGE VICTORY FOR PALESTINE!
Very important to watch!
@souloffilasteen #freegaza #freepalestine #فلسطين #اسرائیل
English Script:
Dr. Ali Haidar Ahmed: We are here today because one vote at the Security Council has blocked Palestine from becoming a full member state of the United Nations. It is shameful that one vote can ignore the deafening call for justice for Palestine. A call accorded by over 140 member states of this General Assembly, including 12 member states of the Security Council. A call accorded by millions of peaceful protesters in universities, streets and cities across the world. Yet one country just one out of the 193 members of the United Nations defied that outcry for justice. The cry for recognition and the call for self-determination. With that one vote, the United Nations Security Council has yet again failed with that veto. The Security Council has failed to stop Israel’s ongoing genocide. As we speak, Israel is carrying out its mass killings in Palestine. Its brutal, barbaric and horrific actions are being etched into history as witnessed in real time. Palestinian bodies are being unearthed from mass graves. Palestinian families are being dug out of the rubble by children own hands. On no account can we fake ignorance. The Security Council cannot claim to be unaware of the situation on the ground in Palestine right now. Israel’s repeated strikes on Rafah after brutally driving more than a million Palestinian civilians to seek refuge in the city, is characteristic of genocide. Israel’s unbearable escalation of violence and terror is being normalized through the council’s inaction. The only way a lasting solution can be achieved in the Middle East is for Israel to recognize and respect the sovereignty of Palestine. Israel should withdraw from the occupied Palestinian lands, and Israel should allow the return of Palestinian refugees driven out of their homes since 1948. One key obstacle in achieving that is the veto. We must abolish it completely.
