Representatives of the Palestinian Authority have announced that they will continue with their attempt to achieve recognition as a state by the United Nations, despite the Security Council’s inability to reach a consensus on Palestinian statehood last month.A statement released by the Palestinian President’s office read, in part, ‘Regarding the Security Council and the membership application of Palestine on the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital, we uphold the Palestinian approach. The purpose of this initiative is to bolster the two-state solution on the basis of the 1967 borders and not to isolate or delegitimize Israel.’
Although the statehood bid was one vote short of the nine votes necessary to pass the UN Security Council, the Palestinian Authority was able to get endorsements from 144 of the 192 countries in the United Nations General Assembly.
The Palestinian bid for statehood was submitted to the United Nations Security Council in September, and was sent to the new member committee of the UN Security Council. The statehood bid involved the recognition of Palestine as a state on the 1967 borders with Israel, and East Jerusalem as its capital.
According to the Palestinian President, ‘The Palestinian leadership has initiated a series of Arab and international consultations, and continues to make evaluations in order to mobilize more international voices in favour of the accession of the State of Palestine to the UN through the Security Council.”
The Palestinian bid for statehood received an endorsement from the former head of the British diplomatic service, Lord Wright of Richmond, who raised the question in the House of Lords on Sunday, asking Foreign Office spokesman Lord Wallace of Saltaire: ‘Do you accept that acquiring statehood, rather than inviting punishment from Israel and the United States, would put the Palestinians on a more equal footing with their Israeli negotiators and thus improve the chances of achieving credible and substantial negotiations which are, as I understand it, the Government’s objective?’
Great Britain was one of the states who abstained from the Palestinian bid for statehood in the UN Security Council.
