The United Nations will celebrate its 80th anniversary in 2025 and we can commemorate this occasion by welcoming Palestine as the 194th member state of the United Nations and ensuring a lasting solution to the Middle East conflict. The next UN conference on Palestine, scheduled for June 2025, could be a turning point on the decisive and irreversible path towards peace in the Middle East. The Trump administration will greatly serve the interests of the United States and the world by championing a two-state solution and a comprehensive Middle East peace agreement at a rally in New York in June.
Amid Israel’s shocking atrocities in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, small windows of hope have nevertheless emerged. Almost the entire world is united around the two-state solution as the key to regional peace. As a result, a comprehensive agreement was possible.
The United Nations General Assembly recently adopted a potentially transformative resolution (PDF) by an overwhelming margin. The United Nations General Assembly calls for an end to Israel’s illegal occupation of 1967 and reaffirms its unwavering support for the two-state solution. Most importantly, the resolution sets out a roadmap for the establishment of a Palestinian state at a high-level international conference (PDF) to be held at the United Nations in June 2025.
Think about how long the Palestinians, and the world, have waited for this moment. In 1947, the United Nations first assumed responsibility for addressing the Palestinian issue. In Resolution 181 (PDF), the United Nations General Assembly proposed dividing Mandate Palestine into two independent states: Jewish and Arab. Sadly, the proposed split was neither fair nor agreed upon by the parties. Although Palestinians made up 67 percent of the population, 44 percent of the land was allocated to them. However, before the plan could be revised and resolved peacefully, the Zionist terrorist organization began ethnically cleansing more than 700,000 Palestinians from their homeland, resulting in the so-called Palestinian catastrophe, the so-called Nakba.
After Israel unilaterally declared independence and defeated its Arab neighbors in war, Count Folke Bernadotte, a senior United Nations mediator, sought to reinstate the two-state solution. However, Bernadotte was assassinated by the Zionist militia Lehi. Israel signed the 1949 Lausanne Protocol, reinstating the two-state solution under the auspices of the United Nations, but subsequently openly ignored it. What happened instead was Israel’s 75-year quest to deny Palestinians their right to a homeland.
For decades, the US government has led a sham negotiation process under the guidance of the Israel lobby. These efforts ostensibly involve direct bilateral negotiations between the occupying power and the occupied people, inherently unequal parties in which Israel’s goal has always been to create a truly sovereign Palestinian state. It was to refuse. At best, Israel provided a small, helpless enclave of “Bantustans,” or Palestinians living under Israeli control. The US-led processes included the 1978 Camp David Accords, the 1991 Madrid Conference, the 1993-1995 Oslo Accords, the 2000 Camp David Summit, the 2003 Quartet Roadmap for Peace, and the 2007 It has been going on since the mid-1970s, including the Annapolis Conference in 2007. In this Hall of Mirrors process, Israel continues to block Palestinian statehood, while American “mediators” continue to denounce Palestinian intransigence.
The Trump administration could choose to change the situation at the upcoming United Nations conference in the interests of America, Israel’s long-term interests and security, and peace in the Middle East and around the world. In fact, only the United States has the right to veto a Palestinian state. Israel has no veto over Palestinian statehood or peace. Only the United States has that veto.
Yes, Prime Minister Netanyahu has ideas other than peace. He and his allies continue to have one goal in mind. It is denying Palestinian statehood by expanding Israel’s territorial conquests, including not only occupied Palestine but also parts of Lebanon and expanding Syria.
The Middle East requires a new American foreign policy that brings peace rather than endless war. The vast majority of the world supports a two-state solution, as mandated by the International Court of Justice and as demonstrated through the General Assembly, the G20 (PDF), the BRICS (PDF), and the League of Arab States (PDF).
The United Nations Conference on Palestine is therefore an important and momentous occasion that could hold the key to a comprehensive peace in the Middle East that includes seven interrelated measures:
An immediate UN-mandated ceasefire on all fronts of the conflict, including Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Iran, and the immediate release of hostages and prisoners of war from all organizations. On June 4, 1967, the sovereign state of Palestine was recognized as the 194th member state of the United Nations, bordering the capital East Jerusalem. In 1967, the Israeli army withdrew from the occupied areas, and at the same time, the United Nations ordered the introduction of international troops and security measures to protect the entire population. Protection of the territorial integrity and stability of Lebanon and Syria, complete demilitarization of all non-state forces, and withdrawal of all foreign forces from their respective countries. Adoption of the updated Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran and the end of all economic and other sanctions against Iran. Termination of all claims or states in belligerent relations, including defunding and disarmament of belligerent non-state actors, and respect and recognition of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of all states in the region; (without excluding the possibility of subsequent territorial adjustments, security agreements, cooperative forms of governance agreed upon by sovereigns). Establishment of regional peace and normalization of diplomatic relations with Israel by all Arab and Islamic countries. Establishment of the “Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East Sustainable Development Fund” to support reconstruction, economic recovery and sustainable development in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East region.
After decades of violence and war, the chance for peace is now. The United Nations’ commitment to inclusive peace is our greatest hope and opportunity in recent decades.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of Al Jazeera.
