Riyad Mansour represents Palestine as an observer at the United Nations (UN). Palestine was blocked from full membership at the UN by the veto-wielding United States (US). [Picture: Eduardo Munoz / REUTERS]
It’s my way or the highway. That is the attitude the United States (US) has held on recognition of Palestine, according to a political analyst. The US on Thursday sank the latter’s bid to become a full member of the United Nations (UN).
“Since 1993, the Americans have been making the Palestinians and the Arabs promises that they never fulfil,” said political analyst Marwan Bishara in an interview on Al Jazeera.
On Thursday, a single US veto dashed Palestinian hopes for recognition at the UN. Currently holding observer status, the renewed bid came amidst an ongoing genocide in Gaza and increased incursions into the occupied territory.
“For three decades, the United States supervised, sponsored a peace process between Palestinians and Israelis and it always took Israel’s line,” he said.
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US the slave of Israel
Describing the leader of the free world as the chief backer of the apartheid state, Bishara said the US risks isolating itself on the issue of Palestine. Much of the world, he said, sympathised with the Palestinian cause.
“When it comes to Palestine, it has brought on itself isolation in order to be at the service of Israel and, in this case, at the service of an Israeli government that is basically genocidal, that’s neofascist, that [Joe] Biden himself is demanding that this government changes.”
When it came to the vote, twelve countries sitting on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) voted in favour of full membership status for Palestine. Two, the United Kingdom (UK) and Switzerland, abstained, while the US was the sole ‘no’ vote.
“The United States continues to strongly support a two-state solution. This vote does not reflect opposition to Palestinian statehood, but instead is an acknowledgment that it will only come from direct negotiations between the parties,” deputy US ambassador to the UN, Robert Wood, told the council.
But Bishara was not convinced. “The justification for the American decision is just false and transparently so,” he said.
