RJ:POR'l' OF THE COMHITTU ON THE ADMISSION OF NEW MEMBERS

CONCERNING THE APPLICATION OF pAoLE:Sn:m:

FOR MEMBERSHIP IN THE UNITED NATIONS
1. J'.t its 6624>..b rr.ee1:ing on ZB eptcl:\be, 2011, t'1e
had It the of Palestine for
admission to me<:\b.. uhip in th.. United In
accndarlce loIith rule 59 of the provisionsl rJles of procedure
and in the absence ot a proj::oslll to the c:ontrary, the
Presiderlt of the Council (Lebanon) the application to
"h.. Co",,,tttee for examination ar.d report.
2. A;:: the 109,h and 1l0u meetir,gs of tr.e Securi:y Councel
on the AdT>isS10n ot .. ho:d On 30
Septent:er and 3 2011. respecti\'ely, the Corrrnittee
considered the appliCQtlon.
3. th.. ll'.oetin9 of the COIl'_'flittee, the PresJ.dency
of the Security council tor the month o! October (Nige!.l-a)
convened fivo infor"'al "'.eetir.g3 of :he four of
...hl.ch took place- at the expert level, to ca:efu:ly
whether met the specific criteria for to
reeTbership contained in ArtIcle 4 ot the Chart.. : of the United
Nations. Experts considered whether Palestlne the criteria
for statehood, ""as a peace-lOVing Stllte, and .... ,.. willinq and
IIble carry out the obligaticns contaIned in the Chatter.
:n the course of rr,eetlngs of Cemmitt<!e on tne
of difterinc views Were expressed. The
view was expressed that the applicant all the erlterill
in th. Charter. Que3tlcns vere as to whether
the aFplicant meets all of the Charter
requirements. The view was also expressed that deliberatJ.ons
should take irto account broader politiCII_ cOntext o!
lutter at hand.
5. I: was stated that the cnteria set OU: in Art;c}e 4 of the
Charter loIere the only f"ctor. th"t could be tll<en
consideration in the Committee's deliberations. In support 0:
this rof.. ";,.,,ce loIas "'lIde to the A:!visory Opin!on cf
28 May the :nternatiorlll Cou::'t ot Justice llCJ:, On
tha Conditions of Adm:ssion a State to Membership the
l;nited Nlltions (Artic;e 4 0: the Charter).
6. It was also asserted that the work, wh"tever
should of the broader political
view WIIS that" negotiat.. d solution remained the
only optiOn for a peace and thllt fina:
hod to be resolved neQotiatior.s. SuP?ort
'oIas expressed for a two-State solution based on pre-196i
re$ultir.g fron political negotiations, leading to a'l
independent State of with East as itS
It was stressed that the gra'lting or Palestine's
right to recog'lition must not be seen
as cO'ltrary to Israel's inalienable rtl/ht to
1. It was stated that the work should not
pros peers ot the of peace talks, particularly in
light of the Quartet on 23 2011 that had
set out a clear ttnetable for the resunption of negotiations.
Similarly, it was also stated that the prospect of
negotiations should not delay the Security Council's
consid"ration ot Palestlr.'" s application. I:l addition, :t was
stated that Palestine'S was neither to
the pOlitical precess nor an alternattve to negotiations.
CO:lcerns were raisect tn relation to Israel's continued
s"ttlement activlties, which were considered illegal under
international law and an obstacle to a comprehensive
peace.
e. In relation to the application of Palestine (S/2011/S92),
attention drawn to the letter by the Secretary
General the ?resldent of Palestine on 23 September 2311,
contained a declaratlon - in a
that the State of Palestine Wa5 a peace-Iovlng
that it accepted the obligations eontained in the of
the United Nations; and that it soleMnly undertOOk to
the""
9. On the criterion of statehood, reference was made to 1933
Montevideo Convention On the Riqhts and Duties of States,
which declares that a State aa a of international
should possess a permanent popuLation, a definad territory, a
and the capscity to enter into re:ations with other
Stdt"S.
10. With regard to the of a popUlation and
a defined territory, the "xpreased that Pale5ttne
these criteria. :t was stressed that the lack of
precisely settled was not an obstacle to atatehood.
11. Ouestions were raised, ho"ever, reqardlng Palesttne's control
over its territory, in light of the fact that Hamas ",as the de
facto authority in the Gala Strip. It was afflrmed that the
Israeli occupation was a factor preventing the Palestinian
from exercialng full control OVer ita territory.
However, the view was expressed that occupation by a foretgn
power did not ittply that the sovereignty of an occupied
territory waa to be trsnsferred to the occupying power.
,
12. lIith regatd to the req"iren!nt of " govermr.e'lt, the view W4$
trlat Pale"tine f'llhlhd thia cri:erion. HOlOevar. it
stated that in control cf of the
population of therefore the pale!tlnian Authorit!
{PAl could not be con!idered an effective governr.ent. However,
it ""a' atrea!ed that the FLO, "nd nt Ilo.:nae, WIU oh"
repre,entative ct the ?ale!tinian people.
13. Reference "'as to repar:a or the World Bank, ohe
Monetary Fund and the Ad Hoc Llal,on Connittee
for Coordination the Asai,cance :a
Palea:ini"ns, w!"'.ich hid ccmcluded that Falest:tne's
functian, ware naw aufficient far the
of " St"t...
14. With regard to the requirenent that a Stata have the capacity
to entar .c,to St!te", ,ie>l was
expre"ed that Pale!tine this It wa,
recalled .. t had beer. accepted Into .n
tha of the
the Nations and Soc:a1 Co:rnis,lon
for Welltern Asia, the Croup 'i anc UNES:O. !r. addItion,
over 130 States had recognized
sovereign State. were the
authority of the to in ralationa with other State!,
since under the 0,10 ACCOrd' the PA not in

ta that on applicant be
1ovbg-, the view >In PaleHil'le fulfilled
in light. of it' to t:re of a
1uat, a'ld of the
Palestinian cor.fliet. :t waa r .. r::her 3tated th"-t Pale'tir.@"
of criterion was evident in it'
to re"uming ne10tiations on a1:
on the baais of the endorsed of
.. :J N... :ions [.. t:le !':ad::cid
principles, the Arab Peace InitiatIve ar.d the Quartet road
.
16. Questions were rai",d ta whether PalestIne indeed a
peace-loving Since refused to renounce terrO"l!n
and vl01@nce, and had the "tat,d a.n or ;.r._l.
Ref@ranee >laa r.ade, on tre other hand, :0 the Cpinion
of tCJ on Namibia of 191:, which that only "c:"
that could be ta a State were of the
Stllte'a reccqnized autharity.
11. WI th regard to the require",.ant that an applleant ac;;"'pt. the
contained In the Charter and be acle and wl:1inq
to catry out th.ao the vie>l wa$
J
Palestine these as was evident, lnter
alia, !row the solerrn declaration to this ef!ect con tal ned 1n
its application. It was recalled that in 1946, when
the application of for MeMbership, it had
been that Israel's pledge to carry out its
obligations the was Suf!lclenc to meet this

18. view was also expressed that the Charter required nore
than a verbal by an applicant to carry out its
Charter obligations; an applicant had to show a cownitment to
peaceful settlewent o! disputes and to refrain the
threat or the use of farce in the conduct of its
relations. In this connection, it was stressed that Hamas
not accepted these obligatlons.
19. The view was expressed that the should to
the Council that Palestlne be to membership in the
United Nations. A dlfferent view was expressed that the
application could not be suppOrted at this and
an abstention was in the event o! a vote. Yet
another expressed that the applicant did not the
requirements for and a favourable to
the General would not be 5upported.
20. rurther. it was suggested that, as an step, the
General adopt a by which Palestine
would be made an Observer State.
21. In up the debate at the IIO<h o! the
on the of the stated that the
Committee was unable to \lnanirnous to the
Security Council.
22. The Security Council Comnittee on the Admission of New Merrbers
concluded its consideration 0: the application of Palestine
for to members hlP in the Nations.
23. At its Illth reeetlng, the approved the present
report on its consideratlOn of the application o! Palestine
for membership in the Cnlced Nations.