Qatar has long refused to normalise with Israel as it continues to commit human rights violations against Palestinians.
The Arab Parliament expressed its “full support” for Palestine’s right to a full membership at the United Nations on Monday, during a meeting at the headquarters of the Arab League in Cairo.
The calls for Palestine to obtain a full membership were echoed during the meeting by the Palestine Committee of the Arab Parliament, which focuses on all issues related to the illegally occupied country.
The committee also called for Palestine’s right to join international organisations in order to strengthen its “legal and international status” while “embodying the independence of its sovereignty over its occupied land”.
According to Qatar’s News Agency (QNA), the bloc renewed its support for the establishment of a Palestinian state in line with resolutions of international legitimacy and the Arab Peace Initiative.
Qatar has repeatedly expressed its commitment to the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, adopted by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) a decade ago. The initiative states that member countries shall refrain from normalising with Israel until it fully withdraws from lands occupied in 1967.
Palestine was only granted the status of a “non-member observer state” at the international organisation in 2012 under a resolution adopted by the General Assembly.
Granting Palestine a full membership would require the greenlight from the Security Council where the US, Israel’s closest ally, holds veto power.
The full UN membership, if granted, would mean Palestine’s statehood is recognised internationally.
Meanwhile, Israel, which has continued to occupy Palestine for decades, enjoys full membership at the UN.
The Zionist state received its membership in 1949, a year after the launch of the Nakba, or catastrophe, in which Israel forcibly displaced and killd Palestinians.
Between 1947 until 1949, at least 750,000 Palestinian from a 1.9 million native population were forced out of their own land by Zionists militias who later established Israel.
At least 450 towns and villages were depopulated.
There are up to 5.6 million Palestinian refugees, with at least 28.4% scattered in 58 UNRWA-run camps in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza.
More than 70 massacres have been committed by the Israal as it continues to forcibly displace Palestinians.
Refusal to normalise with Israel
Qatar has long refused to normalise with Israel as it continues to commit human rights violations against Palestinians.
Speaking to France’s Le Point last month, Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani slammed Israel’s occupation of Palestine.
“Every country has the right to establish relations with the countries it wants. But what is normalisation with Israel? Seriously, are things normal in Israel? No!” Sheikh Tamim told France’s Le Point.
Addressing the 77th UN General Assembly last month, Sheikh Tamim renewed the need to implement international resolutions and press Israel to end its illegal occupation.
“The Palestinian cause is still unresolved, and in light of the failure to implement the resolutions of international legitimacy and with the persistent change of facts on the ground the settler occupation has pursued a fait accompli policy,” said Sheikh Tamim.
The leader renewed Qatar’s full solidarity with Palestinians “in their aspiration for justice” while calling on the Security Council to “compel Israel to end the Palestinian territories’ occupation.”
Sheikh Tamim also renewed Qatar’s stance in supporting the establishment of a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
