The UN can end the Middle East conflict by welcoming Palestine as a member

The UN, connected its 80th day successful 2025, tin people the juncture by securing a lasting solution to the struggle successful the Middle East, by welcoming the State of Palestine arsenic the 194th UN subordinate state. The upcoming UN Conference connected Palestine, acceptable for June 2025, tin beryllium a turning constituent – a decisive, irreversible way towards bid successful the Middle East. The Trump medication would greatly service America’s interests, and the world’s, by championing the two-state solution and a broad Middle East bid deal, astatine the gathering successful New York successful June.

Amid Israel’s shocking brutality successful Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria, a tiny model of anticipation has nevertheless emerged. Almost the full satellite has coalesced astir the two-state solution arsenic the cardinal to determination peace.  As a result, a broad woody is present wrong reach.

The UN General Assembly precocious adopted a perchance transformative solution (PDF) by an overwhelming margin. The UNGA demands an extremity to Israel’s amerciable 1967 concern and reaffirms its unwavering enactment for the two-state solution. Most importantly, the solution laid  retired a roadmap for establishing a Palestinian authorities astatine The High-level International Conference (PDF), to beryllium held successful June 2025, astatine the United Nations.

Consider however agelong the Palestinians, and the world, person waited for this moment. In 1947, the UN archetypal took connected the work of addressing the Palestinian question. With Resolution 181 (PDF), the UN General Assembly projected the partition of Mandatory Palestine into 2 autarkic states – 1 Jewish and 1 Arab. The projected partition, alas, was neither just nor agreed upon by the parties. It allocated 44 percent of the onshore to the Palestinians though they were 67 percent of the population. Yet earlier the program could beryllium revised and settled peacefully, Zionist panic groups began to ethnically cleanse much than 700,000 Palestinians from their homes, the alleged Nakba, oregon catastrophe, of the Palestinian people.

After Israel declared its unilateral independence, and defeated the Arab neighbours successful war, a elder UN mediator, Count Folke Bernadotte, tried to resurrect the two-state solution.  Yet Bernadotte was assassinated by Lehi, a Zionist paramilitary organisation. Israel signed the 1949 Lausanne Protocol, resurrecting the two-state solution nether UN auspices, but past blatantly disregarded it. What ensued alternatively was Israel’s 75-year quest to contradict Palestinians their rights to a homeland.

For decades, the US government, nether the guidance of the Israel lobby, presided implicit a phoney negotiating process.  These efforts ostensibly progressive nonstop bilateral talks betwixt an occupying powerfulness and an occupied people, inherently unequal parties, successful which Israel’s extremity was ever to cull a genuinely sovereign Palestinian state. At best, Israel offered “Bantustans,” that is, small powerless enclaves of Palestinians surviving nether Israel’s control.  The US-dominated process has continued since the mid-1970s, including the 1978 Camp David Accords, 1991 Madrid Conference, 1993-1995 Oslo Accords, 2000 Camp David Summit, 2003 Quartet Roadmap for Peace, and 2007 Annapolis Conference.  In this hall-of-mirrors process, the Israelis person continuously blocked a Palestinian authorities portion the US “mediators” person continuously blamed the Palestinians for their intransigence.

The Trump medication could take to alteration the crippled astatine the upcoming UN league – successful America’s interest, Israel’s semipermanent involvement and security, and the involvement of the Middle East and the satellite successful peace. The US is, successful fact, the lone remaining veto against a Palestinian state. Israel has nary veto connected a Palestinian authorities oregon connected bid for that matter. Only the US has that veto.

Yes, Prime Minister Netanyahu has ideas different than peace. He and his conjugation proceed to person 1 purpose: to contradict a authorities of Palestine by expanding Israel’s territorial conquests, present including not lone occupied Palestine but besides parts of Lebanon and a increasing portion of Syria.

A caller US overseas argumentation is needed successful the Middle East – 1 that brings astir bid alternatively than endless war.  As mandated by the International Court of Justice, and arsenic demonstrated done the General Assembly, G20 (PDF), BRICS (PDF), League of Arab States (PDF), the overwhelming bulk of the satellite favours the two-state solution.

The UN Conference connected Palestine is truthful a cardinal and captious opportunity, 1 that could unlock a broad bid for the Middle East, including 7 interconnected measures:

1. An contiguous UN-mandated ceasefire crossed each fronts of the conflict, including Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, and Iran, and the contiguous merchandise of hostages and prisoners of warfare crossed each entities.
2. The admittance of a sovereign State of Palestine arsenic 194th UN subordinate authorities connected the June 4, 1967 borders with its superior successful East Jerusalem; the withdrawal of Israeli equipped forces from territories occupied successful 1967, with the simultaneous instauration of UN-mandated planetary forces and information guarantees to support each populations.
3. The extortion of the territorial integrity and stableness of Lebanon and Syria, and the afloat demilitarisation of each non-state forces, and withdrawal of each overseas armies from the respective countries.
4. The adoption of an updated Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran, and the extremity of each economical and different sanctions connected Iran.
5. The termination, including defunding and disarmament of belligerent non-state entities, of each claims oregon states of belligerency, and respect for and acknowledgement of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and governmental independency of each State successful the area, (without excluding the anticipation of consequent territorial adjustments, information arrangements, and cooperative forms of governance agreed by the sovereign parties).
6. The constitution of determination bid and normalisation of diplomatic relations by each Arab and Islamic states with Israel.
7. The constitution of an Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East Sustainable Development Fund to enactment the reconstruction, economical betterment and sustainable improvement of the region.

After acold excessively galore decades of unit and wars, the accidental for bid is present and now.  The UN’s endeavour for a broad bid is our champion anticipation and accidental successful decades.

The views expressed successful this nonfiction are the author’s ain and bash not needfully bespeak Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.