UNSC not arena to promote hegemony but peace

The United Nations General Assembly voted by a wide margin on Friday to grant new "rights and privileges" to Palestine and called on the UN Security Council to reconsider the request of the Palestinians that Palestine become the 194th member of the United Nations.

Although the US can still veto Palestine's UN membership in any UN Security Council vote on the issue, as it did on April 18, the result of the latest UN General Assembly vote reflects the wider support for full membership of Palestine in the UN, which means greater pressure on Washington not to act against the will of the world.

US Deputy Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood said on Friday that for the US to support Palestinian statehood, direct negotiations must guarantee Israel's security and future as a democratic Jewish state and that Palestinians can live in peace in a state of their own.