The vast majority of the world voted at the UN General Assembly to demand an end to Israel’s unlawful occupation of Palestinian territory within 12 months, with 124 countries (64%) in favor, 14 (7%) against, and 43 (22%) abstentions.
The General Assembly resolution was based on a July ruling by the top UN legal authority, the International Court of Justice, which stated that “Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is unlawful” and that “Israel is under an obligation to bring to an end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as rapidly as possible”.
The countries that voted against the resolution, in effect supporting Israel’s illegal occupation, were the United States, Israel, Argentina, Czechia, Hungary, Malawi, Papa New Guinea, and Paraguay, plus the tiny Pacific island nations of Fiji, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Tonga, and Tuvalu.
These small island countries that consistently echo Washington’s unpopular votes in the UN are essentially unofficial US colonies, and mostly use the US dollar or Australian dollar as their currencies. Together, the six have a combined population of just over 1 million people, making them some of the smallest nations on Earth.
Among the large countries that abstained were India, Australia, Canada, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Ethiopia.
However, in a break with Washington, a few longtime US allies voted in support of the resolution, most notably Japan, as well as France, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain.
Several countries did not vote in the September 18 General Assembly session. These include a few nations that would without a doubt have supported the resolution, such as Venezuela, which lost its voting rights because it cannot pay UN membership fees due to illegal Western sanctions. The US and its European allies have stolen billions of dollars of Venezuelan foreign assets and reserves, and Washington has blocked Venezuela from using the US-controlled financial system.
The resolution was not controversial; it simply called for the implementation of a decision by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN’s top legal body.
On July 19, the ICJ issued a historic ruling stating:
– the State of Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is unlawful;
– the State of Israel is under an obligation to bring to an end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as rapidly as possible;
– the State of Israel is under an obligation to cease immediately all new settlement activities, and to evacuate all settlers from the Occupied Palestinian Territory;
– the State of Israel has the obligation to make reparation for the damage caused to all the natural or legal persons concerned in the Occupied Palestinian Territory;
– all States are under an obligation not to recognize as legal the situation arising from the unlawful presence of the State of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by the continued presence of the State of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Since war broke out in Gaza in October 2023, Washington has repeatedly vetoed Security Council resolutions that call for peace and a ceasefire.
US President Joe Biden has strongly supported Israel as it has brutally bombed civilians in Gaza, in what UN experts say is a campaign of genocide.
In a press conference in Tel Aviv in October, Biden asserted that “if Israel didn’t exist, we’d have to invent it”, given how strategic the colonial state is for US imperial interests.
50 no votes essentially, cruel bastards.
i wonder what country votes most in line with the majority vote in UN general assembly
Always the same map
By what measure is India less peripheral than Mongolia or the goddamn Baltics?
I can’t see any reasonable explanation for Korea and Japan not being the same category.
South Korea is literally a US military base disguised as a country. It was a fascist dictatorship for decades, and afterwards it has been ruled by an oligarchy. And it’s 100% lockstep with the US.
Japan… was that yes. It still is in many ways (Okinawa). But it’s also more independent than SK. It’s closer to the Western European countries in its relation to the US.
Germany also has a shit ton of US military bases. But it’s not as peripheral as SK.
Seems pretty obvious to me.
Axis and Allies?
Which period is this describing?
Some time between 1992-2006 because Montenegro isn’t independent. Given the implied international relationships I assume this is during the early Yugoslav wars
Honestly it looks pretty different now. Europe is mostly not red.
Hell, even China voted in favour this time
In UNGA resolutions China always votes against Israel in favour of Palestine. Voting records are publicly available here: https://digitallibrary.un.org/search?ln=en&cc=Voting+Data
except iberia + francophones which is kinda huge tbh. we’re even seeing some anglos in new zealand being cooler. theres so many things unusual about this map honestly
This looks like a weird version of a cold world era map, blue being US and allies, red USSR and allies and yellow non aligned countries. A little bit weird in Africa and south America, but we’re mostly there
Wtf Czechia? 🙄
Czechia has been a pretty strong supporter of Israel going back to delivering arms for their war of independence.
Kudos to Ben Norton. Great work there. Please donate.
Do any of these UN votes actually mean anything? Like Israel can do what they want regardless right? There’s nothing to enforce this.
Do any of these UN votes actually mean anything?
In terms of actual change, no, not really. But when most of the world condemns what you’re doing and you still continue it weakens their soft power. Countries are less likely to trade with them, less likely to help defend them if they’re invaded, etc. But, yeah, all this is is them saying “I’m mad at you for doing this and not stopping when we ask you to.”
Like Israel can do what they want regardless right? There’s nothing to enforce this.
This is true.
It does mean something. It may not have enforcement teeth, as it is a strictly diplomatic body. However, it still illustrates the state of things and has an impact on international relations.
I’m so tired of being the bad guys. (US)
I feel you
The fact that Ukraine “abstained” should make you libs think.
I know you won’t though lol
ukraine abstained because the US has them over a barrel
Fuck off. Their interest lies with their own survival at the moment and that is strongly connected to a certain superpower voting no. Again, fuck off with that bullshit.
so conditional genocide support is acceptable to you.
Ukraine may have a terrible, far right regime, but this vote doesn’t really say much about it, given that their survival currently depends on not pissing off the USA in any way. If their major military support was coming from a country that wanted it the other way around it would’ve been that way, there’s no principle behind it.
And there is the not thinking
Like clockwork
Can you counter point it rather than just saying ‘not thinking’? From these comments you’re coming off as the not thinking one.
It makes sense that Ukraine would cosy up to USA if USA has something Ukraine needs, no?
Nah it’s you that is not thinking. It is specifically the USA which is the problem. You can see that this map is, unusually, not “always the same map”, with many right wing neoliberal countries (France, Japan, New Zealand, …) voting for this. It’s not at all about the internal political alignment of the countries and just about who is a US proxy.
Ok, and also the most extreme islamophobes (India, Sweden, Czechie, Hungary, …). But the division on this map is notably different from the usual one.
If their major military support was coming from a country that wanted it the other way around it would’ve been that way, there’s no principle behind it.
That’s the principle of being corrupted and in for nothing but power.
Not necessarily lmao. Bet most countries would feel the need to follow the lead of the country literally keeping them from ceasing to exist. It’s just realist power dynamics.
Yes it’s rulers power dynamics
pussy-ass colonies
Fuck my fascist government for abstaining
czechia is a good little lapdog now
Oh yeah, I was actually there and played a festival with my band like a month ago. Beautiful country. Obviously dogshit government.
i really love the countryside, theres still little pockets of communism but its all dying out as the old die off. we’ve been thoroughly colonized by the west and now with the ukrainian refugee situation czechia has been taking a very far right turn. libertarians used to be a weird wacko thing but now its one of the predominant types of male. sad.
Oh god yes the countryside, the highway we were driving was closed for work at this one point and we had to take a detour, so we went through these valleys with the cutest little villages and farms I’ve ever seen, and I fell madly in love. Really hope to go back there some day.
Why the fuck did we (Sweden) abstain? What the fuck? Sometimes I hate my government man. This is such a fucking obvious vote.
Because Sweden is officially neutral. As much as it sucks sometimes, neutrality means you don’t get to pick and choose which of other countries military acts you weigh in on.
Sweden is not neutral since 2022, and unofficially a lot further back than that. But usually neutrality means that you have the opportunity to point fingers att everyone breaking international law, which Sweden isn’t doing even if it were neutral.
Love being neutral between nazis and their victims
Same for Swiss i guess.
We used to be “neutral” (even though even then the argument was threadbare at best), but then we went and joined NATO. Can hardly call us neutral now. Even outside of that though, neutrality should not mean you can’t call out countries/organisations for doing horrendous shit like war crimes and genocide.
We’ve publicly condemned Russia for the invasion of Ukraine (among other things) and i think China for something else (was it about Taiwan or Hong Kong or something? I don’t recall). There’s no real reason not to do the same with Israel outside of not wanting to anger the US.
Wondering the same. Is there a way to get an official statement? I wanna know what reasons they put forward.
Be happy you’re not one of the red spots in Europe.
Because Arab haters are part of the government and the rest wants to guzzle yank dick.
I’m ashamed, we recognized Palestine 2014 but now we can’t say that we want them to be free
At least you’re not sitting in the US looking that this map.
Israel rightly, justly, and legally holds its territory. It is not and has never been the territory of any nation called “Palestine.” Israel holds dominion by bequeathment from the British Mandate, itself given authority over the land by war with the Ottoman Empire.
It’s the homeland of the Jews. It’s not the homeland of Palestinian Arabs - most of the “refugees” have never even set foot there. There’s no chain of reasoning or law by which you can state a Palestinian claim to the land of Israel. Even when they were there, they didn’t rule it.
Israel is the legal successor state to the British Mandate for Palestine as it was the only state established within its borders. That gives Israel a legal claim under international law to the whole territory.
Palestinians have a claim to the land because the population has lived in the land for a long time and can establish a state under the right to self determination.
These are competing claims.
Palestinians have a claim to the land because the population has lived in the land for a long time and can establish a state under the right to self determination.
But they can’t, though, because they aren’t self-determining - sovereign - and never have been. There’s no legal Palestinian claim to the State of Israel.
They don’t need to have been sovereign before to be able to exercise self-determination.
Palestinians don’t have a claim to the State of Israel. They have a right to form their own political entity.
They have a right to form their own political entity.
They did. It’s called Jordan.
Not really. There are plenty of Palestinians living in Jordan without Jordanian citizenship.
All Jordians are Palestinians with Jordanian citizenship, though.
Most Jordanians are Arab, many of them identify as Palestinian, but there are also other minorities.
Where are you getting all this. Please cite some reputable sources.
This is such a tone-deaf and lazy argument. You could use this same argument to defend every colonial power in history.
But the Arabs are the colonial power. Judea and Samaria aren’t in Arabia, are they?
I won’t even dignify such a dumb statement with an answer.
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If Israel is legally justly etc the holder of Judaea and Samaria, can you please clarify which scenario you are pushing for: a) giving full Israeli citizenship and rights to the Arabs who have lived in these lands for generations thus ending the Jewish ethno state, b) expulsing them from the lands, thus explicitly advocating for the crime of ethnic cleansing, or c) formally establishing in law an apartheid regime with a permanent underclass? Please clarify.
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If Israel is the homeland of any Jewish-American rando from New York, with ancestry in Buttfuckburg East Prussia, whose family hasn’t set foot in the territory for 2000 years, then when do I as a Greek person get to assert my rights in beachfront property in Marseille and in Syracuse? Apollo promised it to me, we have a Delphic oracles and everything. Also, i have a Russian friend who says Kiyv was originally the homeland if the Rus people and therefore his country should get full rights to that land. Does he also get the privilege?
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By your own reasoning, regarding the Arabs in the lands of greater Israel, I would like to bring up jewish people living in any other country that is not officially Jewish, where “even when they were there, they did not rule it”. Can you please clarify exactly what kind of antisemitic policies you are willing to endorse and accept? Should for example British Jews enjoy full rights in the UK? Do British Jews get to consider the UK their country, their home? Do they ever get to be full and equal UK citizens, whose allegiance, rights etc are not to be questioned by any special policy, institution or individual? Or should Jews outside Israel be subject to the kind of treatment Israel reserves for Arabs?
(To be clear, I don’t endorse any of this insanity. I’m just pointing out the absurdity of your extremist argumentation.)
can you please clarify which scenario you are pushing for
I’m not pushing for any “scenario” save Israel’s military victory in Gaza - a victory that ends with every member of Hamas dead or in custody (and then dead by execution) and the province of Gaza returned to Israeli administration. Or not! Honestly, who cares?
whose family hasn’t set foot in the territory for 2000 years
How do you figure “2000 years”? They probably have family there right now. They probably flew there for Seder!
I would like to bring up jewish people living in any other country that is not officially Jewish, where “even when they were there, they did not rule it”.
That’s correct; Jews have been second-class citizens and subject to oppression, explulsion, and genocide in every nation on Earth save their own. Hence, control over their homeland is necessary to prevent the complete extinction of the Jewish people and their culture. Great point, thanks for making it!
Or should Jews outside Israel be subject to the kind of treatment Israel reserves for Arabs?
Arabs aren’t so treated in Israel. They’re first class citizens with their own representation in the government. Does the UK extend Jews their own member of the legislature or naw?
You didn’t really answer any of my questions.
I also clarified my point 3 in an edit that I was talking about the treatment of Arabs in Samaria and Judaea. Sorry about the confusion.
You didn’t really answer any of my questions.
They were mostly nonsense. It actually doesn’t matter whether you can make the case that the British didn’t have the legal or moral authority to allow the Jews to create a state in the Mandate; they did, and it is now a nation of several million people, many born there and with no other citizenship whatsoever.
That’s simply a fact, just as borders are a fact. If you purport to reverse the creation of Israel, you’re advocating for a genocide many times worse than the Holocaust. You’re advocating for the pogrom to end all pogroms; a vast, multi-national effort to commit ethnic cleansing in the Levant.
Nope, never did, I never questioned Israel proper. The discussion is about the occupied territories, that were the subject of this UN GA resolution, and that you specifically said are super duper legally owned by Israel.
Edit: and if the questions sound nonsensical (something that I myself pointed out in my original comment) it’s because they are questioning your deranged extreme-zionist assertions.
Edit2: wherever you see “greater Israel” I’m talking about the area currently under Israeli effective control: Israel proper+ West Bank +Gaza +Golan Heights +those Lebanese farms.
The discussion is about the occupied territories
There are no “occupied territories.” The only land occupied by Israel is that which constitutes its sovereign territory.
Countries don’t “occupy” themselves.
Lol, ok so then answer my questions.
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May I say on behalf of a lot of the US: wtf. Vote to end
Vote to end
Explain how that would work.
The US voted to continue (against) Rather than to end (for)
If the US wanted it to end, there wouldn’t need to be a vote. There would be a phone call and it would end.
Unconditional support of genocide is one of those things everyone in Washington agrees on. It’s just good business
Seconded. But apparently us saying that one semitic group must stop a genocide against a different semitic group is… checks notes antisemitic.
