On 29 November the General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favour of according Palestine the upgraded status of ‘non-member observer state’.
Upgraded status will enable Palestine to participate in General Assembly debates. It could also improve its chances of joining UN agencies and commentators have speculated as to whether this could pave the way for Palestine to bring cases at the International Criminal Court or International Court of Justice. However, it should be noted that even full UN membership does not confer “legal” statehood, which rests on recognition by other states.
Earlier this week, UNA-UK’s Chairman, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, wrote to the Foreign Secretary encouraging the UK to support Palestine’s bid for upgraded status. In the vote that passed by a wide margin (138 for, 9 against), the UK was among the 41 countries who abstained.
Sir Jeremy also called on the UK government, regardless of its position on the vote, to press the US not to impose financial penalties on Palestine or the UN should the outcome of the vote be positive.
