UNGA votes in favour of Palestinian membership

KABUL (Pajhwok): The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has voted overwhelmingly in favour of the Palestinian bid for full UN membership, a media report said on Saturday.

The text, put forward by the United Arab Emirates, calls for the UN Security Council ,which must rule on Palestinian membership, to “reconsider the matter favourably, CNN reported.

The resolution won a resounding majority of 143 votes in favour. Twenty five abstained and nine nations --  Czechia, Hungary, Argentina, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Israel and the United States -- voted against the text.

In remarks before the vote, Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour said:  “As we speak, 1.4 million Palestinians in Rafah wonder if they will survive today.”

He appreciated the protestors in US university campuses and abroad who have demonstrated against the Israel-Hamas war.

“Our flag flies high and proud in Palestine and across the globe, and on the campus of Columbia University. It has become a symbol by all those who believe in freedom and is just ruled by all those who can no longer stand idly by in the face of such utter injustice,” Mansour commented.

Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz condemned the resolution’s passage.

The United Nations has 193 member states and Palestine had become a non-member of the world body in 2012.

kk/mud