Why US Veto on Palestine’s Full UN Membership Bid Isn't Surprising

America's "no" to Palestinian statehood contradicts "the letter and spirit of the UN Charter," Professor Alfred de Zayas, former UN independent expert on international order and author of 10 books, including "The Human Rights Industry" and "Building a Just World Order," told Sputnik.

The United States has vetoed a resolution at the UN Security Council that would have paved the way for the state of Palestine to gain full membership at the United Nations.

Twelve countries voted in favor of the resolution, while two others – the UK and Switzerland – abstained.

Washington's refusal to recognize Palestine is not surprising given the warm relations between America and Israel, Professor Alfred de Zayas, former UN independent expert on international order and author of 10 books, including "The Human Rights Industry" and "Building a Just World Order," told Sputnik in an interview.

"After the US administration made the unwise decision to form an alliance with Israel, this effectively meant subordinating American interests to those of the Jewish state," the expert said.

Thus, it was predictable that a situation would arise in which the US "would be bound to support geopolitically unwise policies, abuse the veto power in the [UN] Security Council, and act contrary to the letter and spirit of the UN Charter," Zayas pointed out.

When it comes to US history, “nothing has been as damaging as its 'alliance' with a retrograde State [of Israel] that pretends to implement Biblical prophecies and destroy its Arab neighbors," the pundit argued.

"Saying a good word about the right of Palestinians to have their own state, the idea of seeing the Palestinians as human beings entitled to the same human rights as we claim for ourselves, is rejected by the [US] mainstream media," the professor added.

He also warned of the international ramifications of the Washington-Tel Aviv alliance, which he said "has caused America to lose authority and credibility in the eyes of the Global Majority, precisely because the US has defended the indefensible, justified the unjustifiable, [and] engaged in apology of genocide."

According to Zayas, the US alliance with Israel "makes it complicit in the illegal Israeli settler-colonialism, in all the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Jewish state. This complicity triggers civil and penal liability, which in due course will have to be addressed."

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has, meanwhile, lashed out at the US veto, saying in a statement that it was "unfair, immoral, and unjustified," and that it "defies the will of the international community, which strongly supports the State of Palestine obtaining full membership in the United Nations."

“It's not worthy of a great power. And history will not forgive you for this”: Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzia commented on the United States' veto of the United Nations Security Council resolution to admit Palestine as a full member to the UN.

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Russia's UN envoy Vassily Nebenzia, for his part, pointed out that the US "has once again shown what it really thinks of the Palestinians," adding, "For Washington, they do not deserve to have their own state. They are just an obstacle on the way to the realization of Israel's interests."

"The use of the veto by the US delegation is a hopeless attempt to stop the inevitable course of history. The results of the vote, in which Washington was practically completely isolated, speak for themselves," he stressed.