Palestine To Seek Full Un Membership: Envoy

WASHINGTON, Feb 23 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- Palestine will seek full United Nations (UN) membership and may ask member states to sign a statement welcoming its admission, Anadolu Agency (AA) quoted the Palestinian ambassador to the UN on Thursday.

"We will intensify these discussions and we will use a variety of measures, including issuing a statement and soliciting signatures from member states welcoming and supporting the admission of the State of Palestine to membership before proceeding to the (UN) Security Council and submitting a resolution calling for a recommendation to admit the state of Palestine as a member of the UN," Riyad Mansour told reporters in New York.

His remarks came a day after Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, voted 99-11 to back a decision by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to reject any unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood.

"It's only us, the Palestinian people, who will determine our right to self-determination, including the independence of our state. We will not negotiate that principle with anyone, nor will we seek permission from anyone to do so," Mansour said.

Palestine will expedite the process in the UN General Assembly of calling upon the international community to take practical measures to compel Israel to lift its siege on Gaza, such as urging countries not to send or sell weapons and ammunition to Israel, or requesting that they do not grant visas to settlers, he added.

The State of Palestine was granted observer state status at the UN General Assembly in 2012, enabling its envoy to participate in debates and UN organisations but without voting rights.

According to the UN Charter, states are admitted to membership in the UN by a decision of the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.

"It was the international community that decided to establish two states in Palestine in 1947. It is the responsibility of the international community, together with the Palestinian people, to complete that process by admitting the state of Palestine to membership," Mansour said.

Mansour noted that instead of complying with the provisional orders from the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Israel is further denying Palestine, including its right to exercise self-determination.

-- BERNAMA