At a meeting in Algiers on 15 November 1988, the Palestine National Council, then led by Yasser Arafat, declared the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and Gaza, with its capital in Jerusalem.

In response, by the end of 1988, 78 states had recognised it and granted it full diplomatic relations.  Other states, including Ireland, while not going as far as recognition at that time, established some form of diplomatic relations with it.  

Today, 147 of the 193 member states of the UN have recognised it (see Wikipedia).  Ireland was number 142 in May 2024 along with Norway and Spain.  Since then Slovenia, Armenia and Mexico have followed.  In addition, Australia, France, Malta and San Marino have said they will recognise it during the UN General Assembly session this autumn and the UK and Canada are expected to do so as well.

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Shortly after the Palestinian declaration of statehood in November 1988, the General Assembly backed it in resolution 43/177, passed on December 1988.  This acknowledged “the proclamation of the State of Palestine by the Palestine National Council on 15 November 1988” and affirmed “the need to enable the Palestinian people to exercise their sovereignty over their territory occupied since 1967”.   This resolution was passed by 102 votes to 2, only the US and Israel voting against.

At every session of the General Assembly since, it has passed a resolution backing the creation of a Palestinian state.  For example, resolution 64/150, passed on December 2009, reaffirmed “the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, including the right to their independent State of Palestine”.  It was passed by 176 votes to 6, the only opponents apart from Israel and the US being four tiny Pacific states – Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru and Palau – which are US clients.

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The creation of a Palestinian state has continued to enjoy near universal support at the UN and Palestine has applied for full membership of the UN.  However, this requires a positive recommendation from the Security Council to the General Assembly and therefore can be blocked by the US.

A vote in the Council in April 2024 to make such a recommendation was vetoed by the US.  The vote was 12 (Algeria, China, Ecuador, France, Guyana, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, Russia, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, South Korea) to 1 (US) in favour with 2 abstentions (Switzerland, UK).

Shortly afterwards, in May 2024, the General Assembly passed a resolution that recognized that Palestine met the requirements for UN membership and requested that the Security Council reconsider admitting the state.  The voting on that resolution was 143 in favour and 9 against with 25 abstaining, which is more that the two-thirds majority required to grant full membership if there had been a recommendation from the Security Council to do so.  In other words, the only obstacle to Palestine becoming a full member is the US veto against it in the Security Council.

The US has blocked full membership for Palestine but it hasn’t been able to block the General Assembly from granting Palestine the status of “non-member observer state”.  A General Assembly resolution granting this was passed in November 2012 by 138 votes to 9 (with 41 abstaining).  This allows Palestine to join UN related bodies including, for example, the International Criminal Court (ICC), as a result of which the Court acquired jurisdiction in the West Bank and Gaza.  This enabled the Court to prosecute Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallan for actions in Gaza.

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A UN conference on Palestine co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia took place at UN headquarters in New York from 28 to 30 July 2025.  Its official title was High-level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution.  Approximately 160 of the 193 UN member states participated in the conference.

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Working Groups were chaired by Brazil, Canada, Egypt, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Mexico, Norway, Senegal, Spain, Turkey, UK and the EU and the Arab League.  

A joint statement by the co-chairs, entitled “The New York Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine”, was issued afterwards.  This envisages Gaza being taken over by the Palestinian Authority, and the establishment of a Palestinian state followed by regional integration.  In effect, this would be the implementation of the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which promised Arab normalisation with Israel subsequent to the creation of a Palestinian state.

The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, made opening remarks to the conference, which included the following: 

“We know the central question for Middle East peace is implementation of the two-State solution, where two independent, sovereign, democratic States – Israel and Palestine – live side-by-side in peace and security. 

“My central question to those who stand in the way is this:

“What is the alternative?

“A one-State reality where Palestinians are denied equal rights, and forced to live under perpetual occupation and inequality?

“A one-state reality where Palestinians are expelled from their land?

“That is not peace.

“That is not justice.”

That describes the essence of the situation.

The US did not attend the conference – a State Department statement said:

“This week, the UN will serve as host to an unproductive and ill-timed conference on the two-state solution in New York City.  This is a publicity stunt that comes in the middle of delicate diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.  Far from promoting peace, the conference will prolong the war, embolden Hamas, and reward its obstruction and undermine real-world efforts to achieve peace.”

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I have great difficulty believing that there will ever be a Palestinian state – there certainly won’t be one under the present US administration, which is backing Israel to the hilt both politically and militarily and would support the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from West Bank and Gaza to make it easier for Israel to control the land from the river to the sea.

But I’m mildly cheered up by the fact the world is beginning to stand up for Palestinians.  I expect the UN General Assembly will be asked to endorse the Declaration, or something like it, this autumn.  Let’s hope that when it comes to a vote the US and Israel stand alone in opposition.

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David Morrison

31 August 2025