“Long-Overdue Recognition”: Australia Backs UN Resolution Recognising “Permanent Sovereignty” of Palestinians

Canberra (Quds News Network)- Australia has backed a UN resolution recognising the “permanent sovereignty” of Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, marking a major departure from its previous position.

On Thursday, at a UN committee vote, Australia voted with 158 other countries, including the UK and New Zealand, on a resolution to recognise the “permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources”.

Seven, including the US, Israel and Canada, voted against the resolution while 11 others abstained. The vote will now proceed to the UN general assembly.

“Turning Point”

It is the first time an Australian government has voted in favour of the “permanent sovereignty” resolution since it was introduced in some form two decades prior, according to The Guardian.

A spokesperson for the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said the vote reflected international concern for Israel’s actions, including its “ongoing settlement activity, land dispossession, demolitions and settler violence against Palestinians”.

“We have been clear that such acts undermine stability and prospects for a two-state solution,” the spokesperson said.

“This resolution importantly recalls UN security council resolutions that reaffirm the importance of a two-state solution that has had bipartisan support.”

The Albanese government has been making small but significant shifts on Australia’s approach to Israel’s occupation of Palestine.

In May, Australia supported a UN vote on Palestinian membership to the assembly. Wong said the vote was about awarding “modest additional rights to participate in United Nations forums”, and that Australia would only recognise Palestine “when we think the time is right”.

Nasser Mashni, the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network’s president, welcomed the change as “long-overdue recognition”.

“Australia’s support marks an acknowledgment of the catastrophic impact of Israel’s relentless appropriation and destruction of Palestinian resources and sends a clear signal that the world is demanding accountability for these injustices,” he said.

“This vote should be a turning point for the Australian government – it must recognise and act upon its legal obligation to use all economic, political and diplomatic tools at its disposal to help end Israel’s genocide, illegal occupation, and apartheid in Palestine.”