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.
i wonder what country votes most in line with the majority vote in UN general assembly
Kudos to Ben Norton. Great work there. Please donate.
I’m so tired of being the bad guys. (US)
I feel you
pussy-ass colonies
I feel disgust that Canada supports the continuation of genocide in Gaza.
They’ll say some nice words about how Israel should be nice, and then change nothing. And if the Conservatives get in they’ll abandon the nice words.
Always the same map
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
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
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?
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
Wtf Czechia? 🙄
Czechia has been a pretty strong supporter of Israel going back to delivering arms for their war of independence.
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.
Pukes of my country and my neighbor country, which survived a brutal war, SUSTAINED. Fucking little NATO bitches. One day NATO will they their coast for wars, two one of the most beautiful coasts in the world and I say fuck you, traitors, you deserved it. removed.
Cowardly fuckin Australia
I’d say same map but some parts of Europe are being cool. Like, fucking France??
Look at Estonia and Latvia being on the right side of history! This is not a sentence you get to use very often, so make sure to use it now before they make any other decisions.
which palestinian freedom fighter in france concussed macron today???
EU joining BRICS wen??!?!
I hope never BRICS is a joke club. India and China hate each others guts. China and Russia are only allies of convenience. South Africa and Brazil are trying to get more international clout. The economic and other cooperation between BRICS countries is less than between individual BRICS countries and western countries.
Allies are only ever allies of convenience.
The US was allied with both the USSR and China for the sake of convenience. Right after that war the US allied with its erstwhile enemies, Japan, Germany and Italy for the sake of convenience. The Marshal Islands maintain diplomatic relations with both China and the US for their own convenience.
BRIC (South Africa joined later) was initially coined as a description of quickly emerging economies by a Goldman Sachs economist. Since then it’s become an actual trading block that coordinates on economic policy. It’s very obviously dominated by China but the other members see advantage in joining a club that’s not obviously dominated by the US.
The combined GDP of BRICS nations now exceeds the combined GDP of the G20. If it’s a joke, it’s a pretty successful one.
Proud to be Canadian today knowing that were on the right side of history once again… by abstaining 🙄
i just don’t know if genocide is bad you know sorry
Proud Dutchman standing next to you, feeling fucking ashamed.
As a Swede, i’m right there with you.
UK here, head held low
Same. God i hate this government.
The fact that Ukraine “abstained” should make you libs think.
I know you won’t though lol
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 abstained because the US has them over a barrel
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
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.
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?
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
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.
