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Resolution 67/19: Status of Palestine in the United Nations (29 November 2012)

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aliasesResolution 67/19, A/RES/67/19, Status of Palestine in the United Nations

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Summary

The General Assembly’s resolution 67/19, adopted on 29 November 2012 at its 44th plenary meeting without reference to a Main Committee, which reaffirms the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and to independence in their State of Palestine on the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, decides to accord to Palestine non-member observer State status in the United Nations without prejudice to the acquired rights, privileges and role of the Palestine Liberation Organization as the representative of the Palestinian people, expresses the hope that the Security Council will consider favourably the application submitted on 23 September 2011 by the State of Palestine for admission to full membership, affirms its determination to contribute to a peaceful settlement that ends the occupation that began in 1967 and fulfils the vision of an independent, sovereign, democratic, contiguous and viable State of Palestine living side by side in peace and security with Israel on the basis of the pre-1967 borders, and expresses the urgent need for resumption and acceleration of negotiations resolving all outstanding core issues, namely the Palestine refugees, Jerusalem, settlements, borders, security and water — building the decision on a long preamble that reaffirms resolutions 181 (II), 194 (III), 3236 (XXIX) and the peaceful-settlement and Jerusalem lines, recalls the PLO’s observer history from resolutions 3210 and 3237 (XXIX) through 43/177 and 52/250, commends the Palestinian National Authority’s 2009 statehood-institutions plan and the World Bank, United Nations and International Monetary Fund readiness assessments reflected in the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee Chair conclusions of April 2011, and recognizes that 132 States Members of the United Nations have accorded recognition to the State of Palestine (Resolution 67/19: Status of Palestine in the United Nations (29 November 2012), PDF p.1-4).

What the file is

United Nations document A/RES/67/19, General Assembly, Distr.: General, 4 December 2012, Sixty-seventh session, Agenda item 37, 4 PDF pages, about 1,444 words in the text copy. The text copy is clean and matches the original. No vote count is given in the file. Footnotes 1-8 identify the instruments cited, as noted in the section entries.

Section by section

  • Heading (PDF p.1). Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 29 November 2012, without reference to a Main Committee (A/67/L.28 and Add.1); title “67/19. Status of Palestine in the United Nations”.
  • Preamble, principles and partition (PDF p.1). Guided by the Charter’s purposes and principles, stressing equal rights and self-determination of peoples; recalling resolution 2625 (XXV) of 24 October 1970 (footnote 1, the Friendly Relations Declaration); stressing international peace founded on freedom, equality, justice and human rights; recalling resolution 181 (II) of 29 November 1947; reaffirming the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force.
  • Preamble, Council resolutions and Geneva Convention (PDF p.1). Reaffirming Security Council resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973), 446 (1979), 478 (1980), 1397 (2002), 1515 (2003) and 1850 (2008); reaffirming the applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, including with regard to prisoners (footnote 2, Treaty Series vol. 75, No. 973).
  • Preamble, self-determination (PDF p.1). Reaffirming resolution 3236 (XXIX) of 22 November 1974 and all relevant resolutions, including 66/146 of 19 December 2011, reaffirming the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, including the right to their independent State of Palestine.
  • Preamble, peaceful settlement (PDF p.2). Reaffirming resolutions 43/176 and 66/17 and all relevant peaceful-settlement resolutions, which stress withdrawal of Israel from the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, realization of the inalienable rights primarily self-determination and an independent State, a just resolution of the problem of the Palestine refugees in conformity with resolution 194 (III) of 11 December 1948, and complete cessation of all Israeli settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.
  • Preamble, Jerusalem (PDF p.2). Reaffirming resolution 66/18 and all relevant Jerusalem resolutions, bearing in mind that the annexation of East Jerusalem is not recognized by the international community, and emphasizing the need for a way to be found through negotiations to resolve the status of Jerusalem as the capital of two States.
  • Preamble, Court opinion and occupation status (PDF p.2). Recalling the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice of 9 July 2004 (footnote 3, A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1); reaffirming resolution 58/292 of 6 May 2004 affirming that the status of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, remains one of military occupation and that the Palestinian people have the right to self-determination and to sovereignty over their territory.
  • Preamble, observer history (PDF p.2). Recalling resolutions 3210 (XXIX) and 3237 (XXIX) of 1974, by which the PLO was invited to participate as the representative of the Palestinian people and granted observer status; resolution 43/177 of 15 December 1988, acknowledging the proclamation of the State of Palestine by the Palestine National Council on 15 November 1988 and deciding the designation “Palestine” should replace “Palestine Liberation Organization” in the United Nations system, without prejudice to the PLO’s observer status and functions; the PLO Executive Committee entrusted, by Palestine National Council decision, with the powers and responsibilities of the Provisional Government of the State of Palestine (footnote 4, A/43/928, annex); resolution 52/250 of 7 July 1998 according additional rights and privileges to Palestine as observer.
  • Preamble, Arab Peace Initiative and two-State commitment (PDF p.2-3). Recalling the Arab Peace Initiative adopted in March 2002 by the Council of the League of Arab States (footnote 5, A/56/1026-S/2002/932, annex II, resolution 14/221); reaffirming commitment, in accordance with international law, to the two-State solution of an independent, sovereign, democratic, viable and contiguous State of Palestine living side by side with Israel in peace and security on the basis of the pre-1967 borders.
  • Preamble, recognition, readiness, memberships (PDF p.3). Bearing in mind the mutual recognition of 9 September 1993 between the Government of Israel and the PLO; affirming the right of all States in the region to live in peace within secure and internationally recognized borders; commending the Palestinian National Authority’s 2009 plan for constructing the institutions of an independent Palestinian State within two years, and welcoming the positive readiness-for-statehood assessments by the World Bank, the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund reflected in the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee Chair conclusions of April 2011 and subsequent conclusions, which determined the Palestinian Authority is above the threshold for a functioning State in key sectors studied; recognizing Palestine’s full membership in UNESCO, the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia and the Group of Asia-Pacific States and its full membership in the League of Arab States, the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Group of 77 and China; recognizing also that, to date, 132 States Members of the United Nations have accorded recognition to the State of Palestine.
  • Preamble, membership application and UN responsibility (PDF p.3). Taking note of the 11 November 2011 report of the Security Council Committee on the Admission of New Members (footnote 6, S/2011/705); stressing the permanent responsibility of the United Nations towards the question of Palestine until it is satisfactorily resolved in all its aspects; reaffirming the principle of universality of membership.
  • Operative paragraph 1 (PDF p.3). Reaffirms the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and to independence in their State of Palestine on the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967.
  • Operative paragraph 2 (PDF p.3). Decides to accord to Palestine non-member observer State status in the United Nations, without prejudice to the acquired rights, privileges and role of the Palestine Liberation Organization in the United Nations as the representative of the Palestinian people, in accordance with the relevant resolutions and practice.
  • Operative paragraph 3 (PDF p.3). Expresses the hope that the Security Council will consider favourably the application submitted on 23 September 2011 by the State of Palestine for admission to full membership in the United Nations (footnote 7, A/66/371-S/2011/592, annex I).
  • Operative paragraph 4 (PDF p.3-4). Affirms its determination to contribute to the achievement of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and the attainment of a peaceful settlement in the Middle East that ends the occupation that began in 1967 and fulfils the vision of two States on the basis of the pre-1967 borders, in the terms given in the Summary.
  • Operative paragraph 5 (PDF p.4). Expresses the urgent need for the resumption and acceleration of negotiations within the Middle East peace process based on the relevant United Nations resolutions, the terms of reference of the Madrid Conference, including the principle of land for peace, the Arab Peace Initiative and the Quartet road map, for a just, lasting and comprehensive peace settlement resolving all outstanding core issues, namely the Palestine refugees, Jerusalem, settlements, borders, security and water (footnotes 5 and 8, the latter S/2003/529, annex).
  • Operative paragraph 6 (PDF p.4). Urges all States and the specialized agencies and organizations of the United Nations system to continue to support and assist the Palestinian people in the early realization of their right to self-determination, independence and freedom.
  • Operative paragraph 7 (PDF p.4). Requests the Secretary-General to take the necessary measures to implement the present resolution and to report to the General Assembly within three months on progress made in this regard.

Key passages

  • “Decides to accord to Palestine non-member observer State status in the United Nations, without prejudice to the acquired rights, privileges and role of the Palestine Liberation Organization in the United Nations as the representative of the Palestinian people, in accordance with the relevant resolutions and practice” (operative paragraph 2, PDF p.3)
  • “Recognizing also that, to date, 132 States Members of the United Nations have accorded recognition to the State of Palestine” (preamble, PDF p.3)

Evidence the work relies on

A General Assembly resolution, not an evidentiary work. Its stated bases are the Charter and the prior resolutions and instruments its preamble reaffirms or recalls, each dated in the text; the 2009 Palestinian National Authority plan and the statehood-readiness assessments of the World Bank, the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund as reflected in the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee Chair conclusions of April 2011 and subsequent conclusions; the memberships it lists; the figure of 132 recognizing States, given as of the resolution’s date with no list attached; and the 23 September 2011 full-membership application and the 11 November 2011 report of the Security Council Committee on the Admission of New Members, identified by footnote symbols.

Analysis

The resolution’s single operative act is institutional, and its preamble is built to carry it. Paragraph 2 changes Palestine’s designation in the United Nations to non-member observer State while expressly preserving the PLO’s acquired rights, privileges and role as the representative of the Palestinian people, so the State’s new status and the organization’s representational role are held side by side rather than one replacing the other — continuing the pattern of resolution 43/177, which changed the designation without prejudice to the PLO’s observer status and functions. The evidentiary limb for statehood is readiness plus recognition: the Authority’s 2009 institutions plan, the April 2011 threshold determination, the listed full memberships, and 132 recognitions. Against that, paragraph 3 is a hope addressed to the Security Council on the still-pending 2011 full-membership application, marking the limit of what the Assembly itself decides here. The date is the 65th anniversary of resolution 181 (II), which the preamble recalls — a coincidence the text itself does not remark on.

People, organizations, places and events

UN General Assembly Resolution 67/19, Palestine Liberation Organization, Palestinian Authority, City of Jerusalem, UN General Assembly Resolution 181, UN General Assembly Resolution 194, UN General Assembly Resolution 3236, UN General Assembly Resolution 3237, International Court of Justice, Quartet Roadmap

Concepts

Self-determination, Two-state solution, Right of Return

How it relates to other sources

This is the primary text for Resolution 67/19, not previously held as a source in the wiki. Its observer-status line runs from Resolution 3237 (XXIX): Observer status for the Palestine Liberation Organization (22 November 1974) through the 1988 proclamation record in Palestinian Declaration of Independence and Political Communiqué (15 November 1988) and resolution 43/177, which this preamble recalls. Its core-issues list in paragraph 5 — refugees, Jerusalem, settlements, borders, security and water — is fuller than the unenumerated all-core-issues formulation of Annapolis Conference Joint Understanding on Negotiations (27 November 2007). Its settlement limb, complete cessation reaffirmed in the preamble, is taken up as a Council determination in Resolution 2334 (2016) on Israeli settlements (23 December 2016), which does not recall this resolution.

Open questions

  • No vote count is given in the file, so the resolution’s adoption margin cannot be stated from it.
  • The 132 recognizing States are counted but not named in the file.
  • The Secretary-General’s report due within three months under paragraph 7 is not in this file.
  • The outcome of the 23 September 2011 full-membership application, on which paragraph 3 expresses a hope, is not recorded in this file.

Coverage

PDF p.1-4 of 4, read in full.

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