The UN has experienced a “historic” moment. On Tuesday, September 10, Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour sat in the organization’s General Assembly for the 79th annual session. A right that had been granted to him last May by an overwhelming majority of UN members. However, Palestine is not a full member state of the United Nations and is therefore not authorized to vote and be part of the Security Council. The United States, an ally of Israel, had vetoed it on April 18. Israel denounced a “promotion” granted to the Palestinians.
Joe Biden also called on Israel to be held accountable after the death of a Turkish-American activist killed on Friday, September 6 in the West Bank. A death that the American president had described the day before as “an accident.”
Key information to remember
⇒ Ottawa suspends around thirty arms export permits to Israel
⇒ Biden calls on Israel to ‘do more’ after death of Turkish-American activist
⇒ Palestinians sit in the UN General Assembly
Palestinians gain new place at UN
On Tuesday, September 10, the members of the UN welcomed the Palestinians to the General Assembly of the organization. A place that had been granted to them last May, after an overwhelming majority of the General Assembly had judged that they deserved to be full members of the UN, thus granting them additional rights. In the absence of granting them real membership to which the United States opposes, this resolution provides that from the 79th annual session of the Assembly, the Palestinians can directly submit proposals and amendments. In addition, this new place authorizes them to sit among the member states in alphabetical order, excluding however, unambiguously, the right to vote and to be a member of the Security Council.
While Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour proudly took his place on Tuesday afternoon at the table marked “State of Palestine” between Sudan and Sri Lanka, the deputy Israeli ambassador saw this arrival in a different light. “Any decision or action that improves the status of the Palestinians, whether at the UN General Assembly or bilaterally, is a reward […] for terrorism in general and for Hamas terrorists in particular,” said Jonathan Miller.
Death of Turkish-American activist: Biden calls on Israel to “do more”
“Israel has acknowledged its responsibility for Aysenur’s death (…). Accountability must be fully rendered. And Israel must do more to ensure that events like this never happen again.” This was stated by the American president in a statement published on Wednesday, September 11, “outraged and deeply saddened” by the death of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a Turkish-American activist killed during a demonstration in the occupied West Bank on Friday.
The day before, Joe Biden had described Aysenur’s death as an accident, provoking anger from the victim’s family. “The White House has not spoken to us. We have been waiting for four days for President Biden to pick up the phone (…) and send us his condolences,” Hamid Ali, Aysenur’s partner, lamented in a statement.
A speech that was not shared by the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken, urging on Tuesday, September 10, the Israeli forces to “make fundamental changes in their way of operating in the West Bank” after an “unjustified” death.
The events took place on Friday, September 6, in the village of Beita, in the north of the occupied West Bank, where weekly demonstrations take place against Israeli settlements, deemed illegal under international law.
“No Canadian weapons in Gaza”
The Canadian government announced on Tuesday: Canada has suspended some thirty arms export permits to Israel, including one from the Quebec division of the American company General Dynamics. “The policy is clear: there are no Canadian weapons or components that will end up in Gaza, period,” said Mélanie Joly, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs. All the export permits had been approved before the federal government banned new sales of Canadian weapons that could be used in Gaza in January.
A key ally of the United States, which provides Israel with billions of dollars a year in military aid, Canada drew the ire of Israeli leaders when it initially announced it would cease all new arms shipments to Israel as of January 8. And for good reason: in 2022, Ottawa exported more than CAD$21 million in military equipment to Israel. In 2021, those exports amounted to CAD$26 million, placing Israel among the top 10 recipients of Canadian arms exports, according to government data.