US double standards on Palestinian issue
By Zohreh Qanadi
Staff writer
The United States has prevented the United Nations from recognizing a Palestinian state by casting a veto in the Security Council to deny Palestinians full membership in the world body. Twelve council members voted in favor of granting the Palestinians full member status, while the UK and Switzerland abstained.
Washington has long advocated for a two-state solution and the veto once again reveals its contradictory stance and double standard policy.
The rejection comes as Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip has aroused sympathy toward Palestinians around the world and prompted growing calls for the recognition of the State of Palestine. Since the start of the offensive on October 7, Tel Aviv has killed over 34,000 Palestinians and injured around 77,000 more.
Now, more than ever, Palestinians are subjected to the harshest level of aggression, persecution, and genocide. Despite this, the US unilaterally killed their UN bid in support of Israel.
After the vote, Robert Wood, the US deputy ambassador to the UN, said his country “has worked vigorously and with determination to support Palestinian statehood in the context of a comprehensive peace agreement that would permanently resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict”.
He cited the Hamas resistance movement’s attack on Israel on Oct. 7 as the complicating factor for the Palestinian application for statehood and referred to President Joe Biden’s policy, stating that sustainable peace in the region can only be achieved through a two-state solution with Israel’s security guarantee.
This reflects the US support for the two-state solution while protecting the interests of both the US and Israel. As a senior political analyst Marwan Bishara from Al Jazeera said the US move demonstrated that “Palestine could only be a country the way the United States sees it, or Israel sees it, only at the time that it’s suitable to the United States and within the geopolitics and the global interest of the United States”.
Enthused with the US move, Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz praised the decision to block the proposal, saying, “The shameful proposal was rejected. Terrorism will not be rewarded.”
The Security Council has consistently called for a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, a result that has failed to materialize during negotiations between the two sides. It is worth noting that the two-state solution, based on pre‑1967 borders, would leave out significant Palestinian territories. Nevertheless, Washington impeded the very opportunity for Palestinians to achieve the minimum prerequisites for establishing an independent state, despite the majority of the global community supporting the membership.
The latest veto is not the only instance showcasing its double standard policy. US policy has always been in line with exacerbating the regional crisis stemming from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Washington has barely acted against Israel for its settlement activities in the occupied West Bank, which is illegal under international law, as well as the blockade of Gaza, which has technically turned the coastal enclave into the world’s largest open-air prison since 2007.
The US has only confined itself to condemning the settlements in words, turning a blind eye to Israel’s atrocities, including crimes against civilians in Gaza and the expansion of settlements in the West Bank.
The US stance on the Palestinian issue appears to be aimed at breaking the Palestinians’ will and forcing them into submission to the occupying power, in order to win more concessions from them over the two-state solution. However, the approach has backfired especially in the wake of Hamas’ Operation Al-Aqsa Storm on October 7 which once again raised global awareness and drawn condemnation of Israel’s handling of the Palestinian issue.