The Canadian Press
Fri, May 10, 2024
OTTAWA — Canada abstained from another United Nations vote Friday aimed at formally recognizing Palestine, while opening the door to supporting statehood before the end of the current conflict.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it's part of Canada's efforts to stop the Israeli government from blocking an eventual Palestinian state.
"Our long-standing position (was) that you could only recognize the State of Palestine as an outcome at the end of a process leading to a two-state solution," he told reporters in West Kelowna, B.C.
"We now recognize that it may happen sooner than at the end of the process, as a way of pushing toward that two-state solution."
The UN General Assembly voted by a wide margin Friday morning to grant the Palestinian delegation more procedural rights in UN forums, and ask the Security Council to reconsider blocking Palestine from full status as a member state.
Canada was among 25 countries to abstain, and Trudeau said this is a deliberate change from Canada's stance of voting against most motions that target Israel. Ottawa has previously deemed these to be one-sided motions that hinder peace talks.
"The Israeli government under Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu has unacceptably closed the door on any path toward a two-state solution and we disagree with that fundamentally," Trudeau said, in explaining his rationale.
He reiterated positions Canada has taken for months on the conflict, including the need for Hamas to surrender its hostages and stop fighting, and for Israel to stop limiting humanitarian aid due to "famine conditions that are quickly developing and the horrific loss of life."
In a statement, Global Affairs Canada wrote that it will recognize the State of Palestine "at the time most conducive to lasting peace," adding that this isn't necessarily after a final peace accord with Israel, and that peace talks "cannot delay the creation of a Palestinian state."
The Palestinian delegation in Ottawa wrote in a press release that the shift is "a positive step forward" but argued a full recognition would better reflect Canada's aspirations for peace in the region. Israel's ambassador in Ottawa argued that full UN membership for Palestine would reward Hamas.
Canada has also joined the European Union in condemning two arson attacks by Israeli settlers in the occupied area of eastern Jerusalem on the local building used by UNRWA, a UN agency supporting Palestinians.
Israel has accused UNRWA of links to terrorism, which led Western countries to suspend or freeze funding, though an independent probe found Israel had not provided evidence for its claims. The statement notes "the services UNRWA provides in Gaza and across the region are essential," and it calls on Israel to ensure the safety of UN staff and premises.
Despite that concern, Canada has yet to follow through on a promise three months ago to sanction violent West Bank settlers, a move taken by the U.S. and the U.K. months ago.
Instead, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly applied sanctions to four men in Iran whom Ottawa accused of providing military training and resources to help bolster Hamas. Those listed are members of the militant group, or of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 10, 2024.
Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press
Australia’s support for UN resolution on Palestinian membership ‘not recognition of statehood’
Daniel Hurst and Tory Shepherd
Fri, May 10, 2024
Australia's foreign minister Penny Wong addressing the UN general assembly in September 2023. Australia appears likely to back a vote on Palestine’s status after resolution was watered down.Photograph: Craig Ruttle/AP
Australia’s support of a UN vote on Palestinian membership is “the opposite of what Hamas wants”, and is not about recognising Palestine as a state, according to the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong.
The draft resolution was significantly watered down in last-minute negotiations and Australia was among 143 UN general assembly members to pass the resolution calling on the security council to reconsider granting full membership to Palestine.
On Saturday, Wong said the vote was about awarding “modest additional rights to participate in United Nations forums”, and that Australia would only recognise Palestine “when we think the time is right”.
She said Australia’s policy had changed to be open to recognition during a peace process, “not necessarily only at the end of the peace process”.
That small but significant shift in policy was revealed in April, and some interpreted it as a signal Australia could recognise Palestine in the near future, although Wong said there is no move to do that. Wong also emphasised there would be no role for Hamas in a future Palestinian state.
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The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said the backing of the resolution was consistent with Australia’s support for a two-state solution.
He said the government continued to “unequivocally condemn” Hamas’s actions on 7 October and call for the release of the hostages. But he said Palestinians have a right to live in peace and security side-by-side with Israel.
In a statement explaining the vote, the Australian government said the resolution’s language expressed “unwavering support for the two-state solution of Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security within recognised borders”.
“Like many other countries, our vote for this resolution is not bilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood,” it said.
“Nevertheless, Australia no longer accepts that recognition can only come at the end of the peace process.
“We have been clear there is no role for Hamas in a future Palestinian state.”
France, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand were among the countries that voted for the resolution at an emergency session of the general assembly in New York on Friday.
The US and Israel were among nine countries to oppose the resolution, while 25 others abstained.
Australia was leaning towards abstaining on the original resolution, in which the UN general assembly would have requested the 15-member security council to “favourably” reconsider Palestine’s application for full UN membership status.
Last month the US used its veto power to scuttle the proposal at a security council meeting, and full membership is impossible without that body’s consent.
In addition to the symbolic move of requesting a rethink by the security council, the general assembly was to consider granting Palestine rights and privileges “to ensure its full and effective participation … on equal footing with member states”, according to a draft version of the resolution circulating among diplomats last week.
An official with knowledge of the negotiations said the most recent version circulated by the United Arab Emirates was significantly watered down from earlier drafts and demonstrated “major concessions” by the Palestinians and the Arab Group.
The amended version enhanced the Palestinian mission to the UN with a range of new rights and privileges but made clear that these did not include voting rights.
After a week in which pro-Palestinian encampments were accused of antisemitism, Wong said she understood the Australian Jewish community were “feeling distressed and isolated”.
“You have a right to be safe … and antisemitism has no place anywhere. I stand against it, we all must stand against it.
“This resolution that we have supported is about long-term peace and security for both Israelis and Palestinians.”
The vote was the “opposite of what Hamas wants”, Wong said.
The Coalition’s foreign affairs spokesperson, Simon Birmingham, said the government had “proven overnight that they lack the courage to stand against pressure and by sound principles”.
Birmingham said the resolution sent “a shameful message that violence and terrorism get results ahead of negotiation and diplomacy”.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry had also urged Wong to vote against the resolution.
The ECAJ president, Daniel Aghion, said it was “grandstanding” that would “do nothing to free the Israeli hostages or break the grip of Hamas and alleviate the plight of Gazan civilians”.
“One can only conclude that Australia’s vote was driven by domestic political considerations, and not by principle, which makes it a sad and shameful day for all Australians,” he said.
“Australia should have joined the UK, Canada and the US in abstaining or voting against the resolution.”
Related: Why Anthony Albanese will face a tough call when the UN votes on full membership for Palestine
This was Australia’s most highly anticipated UN vote since December, when it supported an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and the unconditional release of hostages.
The Australian government continues to express alarm about the “devastating” consequences of an impending Israeli ground offensive into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians have taken shelter.
The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, said the UN vote was a “positive step” but wouldn’t be enough to stop “Netanyahu’s catastrophic invasion of Rafah”.
Australia was not inclined to oppose the UN resolution, after signals from Wong, about the need to kickstart progress towards a two-state solution to end the cycle of violence.
Palestinian diplomats at the UN represent the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The Palestinian Authority is dominated by Fatah, a rival to Hamas.
The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network’s president, Nasser Mashni, said the UN had still “failed to recognise Palestinians’ basic, inherent right to participate in decision-making about issues that directly affect their lives and political aspirations”.
UN General Assembly set to back Palestine’s bid for membership
Shweta Sharma
Fri, May 10, 2024
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The UN General Assembly will vote on Friday on a resolution to grant membership to Palestine, a longstanding pursuit for the Palestinians that has faced staunch resistance from Israel and its allies.
The draft resolution has been put forward by the UAE in its capacity as the Arab Group’s chair for the month, and includes a call for the Palestinians to be given new “rights and privileges” within the UN. Palestine has been a UN non-member observer state since 2012.
The final text of the draft has been reached after amendments were made to try and alleviate the concerns of key member states, including the US, Russia and China.
Nonetheless, the US said late on Thursday that the Biden administration opposes the draft resolution, which still requires the approval of the UN Security Council before a state of Palestine could be granted full General Assembly membership.
Under the UN Charter, prospective members must be deemed "peace-loving”. The draft resolution does not explicitly say that Palestine is a “peace-loving state” in the General Assembly’s judgement – instead, simply that the body “determines” that it qualifies for membership. It recommends that the Security Council reconsider its request “favourably”.
On 18 April, the US vetoed a widely-backed council resolution that would have made Palestine a full member. During the vote, Britain and Switzerland abstained, while the other 12 council members voted in favour.
Robert Wood, US deputy ambassador to the UN, suggested American opposition to the resolution was based on a question of due process.
"We’ve been very clear from the beginning there is a process for obtaining full membership in the United Nations, and this effort by some of the Arab countries and the Palestinians is to try to go around that," Mr Wood said. "We have said from the beginning the best way to ensure Palestinian full membership in the UN is to do that through negotiations with Israel. That remains our position."
But unlike the Security Council, there are no vetoes in the 193-member General Assembly and the resolution is expected to be approved by a large majority, three Western diplomats told the Associated Press.
The Palestinian UN mission in New York, in a letter to UN member states, said the adoption of the resolution would be a step towards a two-state solution in the Middle East.
It said it would "constitute a clear reaffirmation of support at this very critical moment for the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, including the right to their independent state."
The renewed effort to secure full Palestinian membership in the UN comes amid a growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, one that may only be compounded further by an expected Israeli ground offensive into the refugee city of Rafah.
The humanitarian crisis confronting Palestinians in Gaza, coupled with the reported death toll of over 34,000 individuals in the territory, has drawn widespread condemnation in numerous Security Council and General Assembly sessions.
According to diplomats, Russia and China, which have called on Israel to cease its action in Gaza, were concerned that granting the list of rights and privileges detailed in an annex to the resolution could set a precedent for other would-be UN members – with Russia concerned about Kosovo and China about Taiwan.
The first draft conferred on Palestine “the rights and privileges necessary to ensure its full and effective participation” in the assembly’s sessions and UN conferences “on equal footing with member states”.
The final text in the draft has dropped the language that called for putting Palestine “on equal footing with member states.”
And to address Chinese and Russian concerns, it would decide “on an exceptional basis and without setting a precedent” to adopt the rights and privileges in the annex.
The draft also adds a provision in the annex on the issue of voting, stating categorically: “The state of Palestine, in its capacity as an observer state, does not have the right to vote in the General Assembly or to put forward its candidature to United Nations organs.”
Additional reporting by agencies
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