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🗞️Australia's Stance on Palestinian State Recognition Up in the Air at UN Vote

🗞️Australia's Stance on Palestinian State Recognition Up in the Air at UN Vote

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Although the Australian government has stated that it will recognise Palestine as a state, it is unclear what position Australia would take on a Palestinian bid for UN membership. On Friday, Australia and the other 192 members of the UN General Assembly will cast their votes on a non-binding resolution as Israel invades Gaza's last safe haven defying the wishes of its allies. Though the text has continued to change as nations negotiate, the draft resolution would ask the UN Security Council to reconsider raising Palestine from a non-member observer state to full UN membership.

While reiterating the government's support for a two-state solution, Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong withheld Australia's vote count.

"It's not a question of if we will recognise a Palestinian state, it's a question of when," she told ABC radio on Friday.

The audio clip from this morning's RN Breakfast Interview is posted below.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared Australia supported a two-state solution at a press conference in Canberra, despite the country not casting a vote in the UN Security Council.

Below is an audio snippet from the press conference:

Earlier, Senator for the Greens and spokeswoman for foreign affairs Jordon Steele-John says that Australia shouldn't wait to vote on whether to recognise Palestine as a state; it should "just vote yes." He said these things before Friday's meeting of the UN general assembly, where members will decide if Palestine should be made a full member. This is what Steele-John wrote on X:

Meanwhile, The Foreign Affairs Minister, Penny Wong, has received a warning letter urging her to vote against a resolution that calls for Palestine to be admitted as a full member of the UN, citing concerns that it would be seen as a reward for "acts of mass terrorism" and further distance the two-state solution from reality.The upgrade of Palestine's status to full UN membership is up for vote by the UN General Assembly on Friday, May 10. The Australian government has not disclosed its position on the outcome. The outcome of the vote would indicate the degree of support Palestinians have for their proposal, which the US blocked in the UN Security Council last month.

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Writing to the Foreign Affairs Minister on Wednesday, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) stated, "It is clear that a Palestinian state cannot be declared into existence." It really has to exist. The eleven-hour attempt to overturn the nation's yes vote stated, "This requires the establishment of institutions which are performing all of the functions of a state on a sustainable basis." In a letter, co-CEOs Peter Wertheim AM and Alex Ryvchin, as well as ECAJ President Daniel Aghion, contended that the Palestinian Authority needed to undergo extensive reform before a viable Palestinian state could be established.

The Greens said it was time for Labor to go beyond its "hand-wringing pleas for restraint" and demanded that the federal government expel Amir Maimon, the Israeli ambassador.

According to the Greens, the ambassador should not be allowed to return "until the state of Israel abides by the orders of the international court of justice," which includes allowing aid to continue flowing unhindered. Adam Bandt, the leader of the party, stated in a statement released today:

With even Joe Biden suspending weapon shipments, Labor’s continued refusal to take any actions against Benjamin Netanyahu’s extreme war cabinet is inexcusable cowardice.

Meanwhile, Following weeks of protests, the head of the UN Palestine refugee agency (UNRWA) has temporarily closed its headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem in response to an arson attack on Thursday. Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini stated on social media that "Israeli residents set fire twice to the perimeter" on Thursday night. At the time, the compound was occupied by UNRWA employees as well as staff members from other UN agencies.

"Our director with the help of other staff had to put out the fire themselves as it took the Israeli fire extinguishers and police a while before they turned up," he explained.

In the wake of a similar violent protest on Tuesday, this was "the second appalling incident in less than a week."

The Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) encourages the Australian Government to vote in support of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution to give Palestine de-facto UN member status.

Following 57 years of military occupation, the Palestinian people deserve to have a right to be represented in the United Nations where their representatives can give voice directly to the experience of Palestinian people.

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🗞️Australia's Stance on Palestinian State Recognition Up in the Air at UN Vote

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