Photo Credit: United Nations
UN General Assembly Hall.

With a vote of 138-9, with 41 abstentions, the UN General Assembly voted in favor of nonmember state status for “Palestine” on Thursday.

The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs has pointed out that the UNGA does not actually have the ability to recognize states, which is a power vested only in the UN Security Council, which rejected the PLO’s effort for upgrade last year.

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So regardless of the UNGA vote, Palestine will still not be a state.

In fact, “The UN General Assembly does not have the power or the authority to establish states. Any such General Assembly resolution upgrading the Palestinian delegation would be no different from any other non-binding, recommendatory resolution of the General Assembly, and would have no legally binding status.”

Of course it does give them something. It will allow the Palestinian delegation to sit in the General Assembly hall, between Panama and Pakistan.

The following countries voted against the nonmember status change:

  • Canada
  • Czech Republic
  • Israel
  • Marshall Islands
  • Micronesia
  • Nauru
  • Palau
  • Panama
  • United States
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