Islam Times - No UNSC 'Consensus' on Palestine's Full UN Membership

Islam Times - Members of the UN Security Council failed to reach a consensus Thursday on a bid by Palestinians for full UN membership

The UN Security Council [UNSC], which revived Palestine's hopes of joining the United Nations as a full member, has been unable to reach a consensus on the issue, the Council's presidency said, according to media reports.

"There was no consensus" during a closed-door meeting, said Maltese Ambassador Vanessa Frazier, who holds the council's rotating presidency for April.

"However, the majority were very clearly in favour to move on with membership."

While the ad hoc committee can only move forward by consensus — loosely speaking, when everyone is in agreement — any Security Council member may now put forth a resolution for a vote on the matter.

According to diplomatic sources, a vote could be held on April 18, brought forth by Algeria, which represents Arab nations on the Council.

Even if the matter were to receive the necessary nine of 15 votes, observers predict a veto from the United States.

Washington maintains the United Nations is not the place for hashing out Palestinian statehood, which it stresses should be the result of an agreement between Israeli regime and Palestine.

"All we ask for is to take our rightful place among the community of nations," Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour told reporters earlier this week.