Despite a raging war against Hamas terrorists in Gaza, and escalating violence between Israeli forces and terrorists in the West Bank, the U.N. General Assembly took the unprecedented step during its September session of seating a representative of the Palestinian Authority among member nations for the very first time. This new right was bestowed on the P.A.’s delegation, even though it is not a full member of the international body, nor does it rule the Gaza Strip, where about 40% of Palestinians live.
The Israeli ambassador to the United Nations protested that the P.A. is a terror-supporting entity “paying terrorists to slaughter us” and that Palestinians don’t even recognize Israel as a Jewish state. He said that “regardless of the Palestinians’ failure to meet the necessary criteria for U.N. membership, most of you sadly decided to reward Palestinian terror with a Palestinian state. It’s very sad because your vote will only embolden Palestinian rejectionism even more and make peace almost impossible.”
The State of Palestine has held an observer-only status in the United Nations since 1974. In 2012, its status was upgraded from an “observer entity” to a “non-member observer state.” The United Nations adopted a resolution in May 2024 that granted new rights to the State of Palestine, excluding voting. Among the U.N.’s procedural rights that were granted to the Palestinian leadership beginning with this session were:
- The right to sit among full member states.
- The right to be elected as officers of the General Assembly.
- The right to make motions, and submit proposals and amendments.
- The right to speak on agenda items beyond issues related to the Middle East.
Palestinian ally nations previously sought a draft resolution in the U.N. Security Council in April to grant the P.A.—an entity without legal statehood—full membership status in the world body. The United States vetoed the resolution, blocking the Palestinian bid. The American ambassador stated that the veto “does not reflect opposition to Palestinian statehood but instead is an acknowledgment that it will only come from direct negotiations between the parties.” The P.A. also did not satisfy a primary criterion of the U.N. charter for full membership: the pledge to be a “peace-loving state.”
U.N. seat rewards terrorism and kidnapping
Never in its history has the General Assembly approved these rights for any other entity that was not a member state. This unprecedented action comes while Palestinian Hamas leadership in Gaza still holds 101 hostages in captivity. In the aftermath of the Oct. 7 massacre—when Hamas raped, mutilated, mass murdered and took hostage to Gaza hundreds of innocent civilians—special honors and positions of international influence are being given to a known supporter of terrorism.
The United Nations was founded in 1945 after World War II with the primary goals of preventing future world wars; maintaining international peace and security; promoting peaceful relations between member nations; protecting human rights; and upholding international law. Its charter states:
The Organization shall ensure that states which are not Members of the United Nations act in accordance with these Principles so far as may be necessary for the maintenance of international peace and security.
The P.A. was the original governing body of the West Bank and Gaza until Hamas terrorists seized power and control over the Gaza Strip in 2007. Despite its newly elevated status in the United Nations, the P.A. fails to meet basic requirements for statehood, including control over a clearly defined territory, a permanent population and an effectively run government. Even as a non-member, the P.A. is responsible for upholding the basic tenets of the United Nations to maintain international peace and security—something the P.A. has never done.
Any U.N. endorsement of the P.A.’s attempts to obtain statehood status violates existing Palestinian-Israeli agreements, the legal basis for the P.A.’s existence. Both the United States and Israel have asserted that the prerequisite for Palestinian statehood is a peace agreement with Israel. However, leaders from several European and Muslim countries recently met in Spain to discuss a proposed schedule for establishing a two-state solution and timeline for Palestinian statehood. Israel was excluded from the meeting.
Points to consider:
- There has never been a sovereign Arab Palestinian state.
When the United Nations recommended in 1947 the partitioning of land formerly controlled by the Ottoman Empire, and later, Britain, it was done to establish “an Araband a Jewish state”: an Arab state, not a Palestinian state. Romans, who preceded the Ottomans in controlling the land, named the region “Palestina.” Jews, Muslims, Druze and Christians have all had a presence in the area for millennia. The Kingdom of Israel existed more than 2,000 years before the modern-day State of Israel, even before Islam existed. There has never been a country known as Palestine. As such, the United Nations violates its own policies by granting elevated status to “Palestine.”
- U.N. approval of a Palestinian seat legitimizes the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in southern Israel by Hamas.
After the murders and kidnappings on Oct. 7, coupled with the continued torture of hostages held in Gaza, the U.N. resolution legitimizes the vicious actors involved. This encourages more violence by sending a message to the global community that terrorism can succeed. This promotion openly gives the terrorists an invisible trophy and encouragement to continue their heinous acts of the past 11 months. Rewarding Palestinian leadership without requiring any concessions, such as the halting of violent acts, removes any incentive that would bring them to the table, leaving Israel with no one to negotiate with.
- Not all Palestinians accept Hamas leadership.
The seating of the State of Palestine at the United Nations is not the governing authority of all Palestinian people. When Hamas toppled the P.A. in Gaza in 2007, the government was split, and Hamas—ruling about 40% of Palestinians—has been designated a terrorist organization. Now, The New York Times has exposed Hamas as being a tyrannical ruling party that cares little for the welfare of its people. The article detailed how Iranian-backed Hamas operatives force civilian compliance through fierce intimidation, death threats and physical brutality. Recently, a Palestinian activist was attacked by Hamas militants who covered his head, dragged him, and beat him with hammers and metal bars. Hamas uses civilians as human shields—intentionally putting them in the line of fire and risking the safety of those they are supposed to govern.
- A seat at the United Nations for Palestine is not a path to a two-state solution.
The focus of the Palestinian leadership should be on making the lives of its people better. Instead, the P.A. is successfully shifting narratives and helping to wage a global public relations war against Israel. It is leveraging the United Nations to garner international legitimacy, which it is using to spread a false narrative to cover up its barbaric actions towards both Palestinians and Israelis. The P.A. is trying to use the agency to spread false narratives by skirting U.N. rules, and strategically positioning itself in a place of power and credibility.
