Division for Palestinian Rights of the Secretariat
Year
2022
UN Body
General Assembly
Session
77
Session Type
GA Regular
Symbol
Agenda Item
33
Country Concerned
Israel
Condemnatory
Yes
Analysis
- The Division serves the biased Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and is dedicated to spreading anti-Israel propaganda. Its 16-member staff is grossly disproportionate to the UN's other four divisions which cover enormous geographical regions. The Division's work is counterproductive to the peace process and seeks to coordinate international boycotts against Israel instead of seeking bridges for peace.
- Among other things, the Division organizes an annual exhibit or cultural event in connection with the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on November 29th, which is used as an opportunity to spread misinformation on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. In 2020, the exhibit, displayed virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic, relied on inflammatory and misleading imagery aimed at misrepresenting Israel's legitimate security measures as apartheid, took source material from an antisemitic website, and used distorted and decontextualized quotes from leading Israeli figures such as David Ben-Gurion and Moshe Sharett to delegitimize Israel with the slander that it was built on the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.
- This year's resolution called on the Division to "dedicate its activities in 2023 to commemoration of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Nakba" and to create a special day commemorating the "Nakba," using the Arabic word meaning "catastrophe" which is how the Palestinians refer to the founding of the State of Israel. This lends the UN’s imprimatur to the rejectionist narrative that the independence of Israel constitutes a “catastrophe.”
- Furthermore, the Division excludes from its events any NGO that does not support its work.
Main Sponsors
Egypt, Jordan, Senegal, Tunisia, Yemen, Palestine
Vote
Yes - 90, No - 30, Abstain - 47, Absent - 26
Key Praise
None
Key Criticism
- "Requests the Division, in particular, to continue to monitor developments relevant to the question of Palestine, to organize international meetings and activities in support of the Committee's mandate with the participation of all sectors of the international community and to ensure...the continued participation of eminent persons and international renowned experts in these meetings and activities... to liaise and cooperate with civil society and parliamentarians... to develop and expand the 'Question of Palestine' website and the documents collection of the United Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine..."
- "Further requests the Division to dedicate its activities in 2023 to the commemoration of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Nakba, including by organizing a high-level event at the General Assembly Hall on 15 May 2023 and through the dissemination of relevant archives and testimonies."
Full Vote
-
Yes90
- Algeria
- Angola
- Azerbaijan
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Barbados
- Belize
- Benin
- Bhutan
- Bolivia
- Botswana
- Brunei
- Burkina Faso
- Cape Verde
- Cambodia
- Chad
- Chile
- China
- Comoros
- Costa Rica
- Cuba
- Cyprus
- North Korea
- Djibouti
- Ecuador
- Egypt
- El Salvador
- Eritrea
- Ethiopia
- Fiji
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Grenada
- Guinea
- Guinea Bissau
- Guyana
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Iraq
- Jamaica
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Kenya
- Kuwait
- Kyrgyzstan
- Laos
- Lebanon
- Lesotho
- Libya
- Malaysia
- Maldives
- Mali
- Malta
- Mauritania
- Mauritius
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Myanmar
- Namibia
- Nepal
- Nicaragua
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Philippines
- Qatar
- St. Kitts and Nevis
- St. Lucia
- St. Vincent and the Grenadines
- Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- Solomon Islands
- South Africa
- Sri Lanka
- Sudan
- Syria
- Tajikistan
- Thailand
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tunisia
- Turkmenistan
- Turkey
- Uganda
- United Arab Emirates
- Uzbekistan
- Vietnam
- Yemen
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
-
No30
- Albania
- Australia
- Austria
- Brazil
- Bulgaria
- Canada
- Croatia
- Czechia
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Germany
- Greece
- Guatemala
- Hungary
- Israel
- Italy
- Liberia
- Lithuania
- Marshall Islands
- Micronesia
- Nauru
- Netherlands
- Palau
- Romania
- San Marino
- Slovakia
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- United Kingdom
- United States
-
Abstain47
- Andorra
- Argentina
- Armenia
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Cameroon
- Colombia
- Ivory Coast
- Dominican Republic
- Eswatini
- Finland
- France
- Georgia
- Honduras
- Iceland
- India
- Ireland
- Japan
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Luxembourg
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Mexico
- Monaco
- Montenegro
- New Zealand
- North Macedonia
- Norway
- Panama
- Papua New Guinea
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Poland
- Portugal
- South Korea
- Moldova
- Russia
- Rwanda
- Serbia
- Singapore
- Slovenia
- South Sudan
- Spain
- Togo
- Uruguay
-
Absent26
- Afghanistan
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Bahamas
- Burundi
- Central African Republic
- Congo
- Democratic Republic of Congo
- Dominica
- Equatorial Guinea
- Ghana
- Haiti
- Kiribati
- Mongolia
- Samoa
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Somalia
- Suriname
- East Timor
- Tonga
- Tuvalu
- Ukraine
- Tanzania
- Vanuatu
- Venezuela