The UN can end the conflict in the Middle East by admitting Palestine as a member United Nations
The UN, on its 80th birthday in 2025, can mark the occasion by securing a lasting solution to the conflict in the Middle East, welcoming the State of Palestine as the 194th member state of the UN. The upcoming UN conference on Palestine, scheduled for June 2025, may be a turning point – a decisive, irreversible path towards peace in the Middle East. A Trump administration would greatly serve the interests of America and the world by advocating a two-state solution and a comprehensive Middle East peace agreement at a gathering in New York in June.
In the midst of shocking Israeli brutality in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, a small window of hope has emerged. Almost the entire world has gathered around the two-state solution as the key to regional peace. As a result, a comprehensive job is now within reach.
The UN General Assembly recently adopted a potentially transformative resolution (PDF) by a large margin. The UN General Assembly demands an end to Israel’s illegal occupation of 1967 and reaffirms its unwavering support for a two-state solution. Most importantly, the resolution set the agenda for the establishment of a Palestinian state at a high-level international conference (PDF), which will be held in June 2025, at the United Nations.
Think how long the Palestinians, and the world, have been waiting for this moment. In 1947, the UN first assumed responsibility for resolving the Palestinian issue. Resolution 181 (PDF), the UN General Assembly proposed the division of mandated Palestine into two independent states – one Jewish and one Arab. The proposed division, unfortunately, was not fair nor did the parties agree to it. He allocated 44 percent of the land to the Palestinians even though they made up 67 percent of the population. However, before the plan could be revised and resolved peacefully, Zionist terrorist groups began to ethnically cleanse more than 700,000 Palestinians from their homes, the so-called Nakba, or catastrophe, of the Palestinian people.
After Israel declared its unilateral independence and defeated its Arab neighbors in war, the UN’s senior mediator, Count Folke Bernadotte, tried to resurrect the two-state solution. However, Bernadotte was killed by Lehi, a Zionist paramilitary organization. Israel signed the Lausanne Protocol of 1949, reviving the two-state solution under the auspices of the UN, but apparently ignored it at the time. What followed instead was Israel’s 75-year quest to deny the Palestinians their right to a homeland.
For decades, the US government, under the leadership of the Israel lobby, presided over a sham negotiation process. These efforts reportedly involved direct bilateral talks between the occupying power and the occupied people, inherently unequal parties, in which Israel’s goal was always to reject a truly sovereign Palestinian state. At best, Israel offered “Bantustanas”, that is, small powerless enclaves of Palestinians living under Israeli control. The US-dominated process continued from the mid-1970s, inclusive The Camp David Agreement of 1978, Madrid Conference 1991, 1993-1995 Oslo Accords, Summit in Camp David 2000, 2003 Roadmap for Peace Quartetand Conference in Annapolis 2007. In this hall of mirrors process, the Israelis have continually blocked a Palestinian state, while American “brokers” have continually blamed the Palestinians for their intransigence.
The Trump administration may decide to change the game at the upcoming UN conference – in the interest of America, the long-term interest and security of Israel, and the interest of the Middle East and the world at peace. The US is, in fact, the only remaining veto against a Palestinian state. Israel has no veto power over a Palestinian state or peace for that matter. Only the USA has that veto.
Yes, Prime Minister Netanyahu has other ideas than peace. He and his coalition still have one goal: to deny a Palestinian state by expanding Israel’s territorial conquests, now including not only occupied Palestine, but also parts of Lebanon and increasingly much of Syria.
A new US foreign policy is needed in the Middle East – one that brings peace, not endless war. According to the mandate from International Court of Justiceand as shown through General assemblyG20 (PDF), BRICS (PDF), League of Arab States (PDF), the vast majority of the world supports a two-state solution.
The UN Conference on Palestine is therefore a crucial and vital opportunity, one that could unlock a comprehensive peace for the Middle East, involving seven interrelated measures:
- An immediate UN-mandated ceasefire on all conflict fronts, including Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Iran, and the immediate release of hostages and prisoners of war in all entities.
- Admission of the sovereign State of Palestine as the 194th member state of the UN on June 4, 1967 borders the capital in East Jerusalem; the withdrawal of the Israeli armed forces from the territories occupied in 1967, with the simultaneous introduction of international forces under the mandate of the UN and security guarantees for the protection of the entire population.
- Protection of the territorial integrity and stability of Lebanon and Syria, and the complete demilitarization of all non-state forces and the withdrawal of all foreign armies from the respective countries.
- Adopting an updated Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran and lifting all economic and other sanctions against Iran.
- The cessation, including the denial of resources and the disarmament of belligerent non-state entities, of all claims or states of belligerence, and the respect and recognition of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of each state in the area, (without excluding the possibility of subsequent territorial adjustments, security arrangements and cooperative forms of governance agreed upon by foreign sovereign parties).
- Establishment of regional peace and normalization of diplomatic relations of all Arab and Islamic countries with Israel.
- Establishment of the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East Sustainable Development Fund to support the reconstruction, economic recovery and sustainable development of the region.
After too many decades of violence and wars, the opportunity for peace is here and now. The UN’s pursuit of comprehensive peace is our best hope and opportunity in decades.
The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.