It’s that time of the year again when the UN begins its next annual General Assembly, with 2026 marking the 81st session of attempted global diplomacy.
While all recognised nations get a seat at the table, or rather curved benches, a number of states around the world still don’t have full membership, for disputed reasons.
Currently, non-members include Taiwan, Kosovo and Western Sahara, while only two nations are considered ‘observer states’ – The Vatican City and Palestine.
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This allows them to attend General Assembly sessions, but not to vote in them.
Despite this status, there was still a vote held yesterday on Palestine’s participation in the 81st General Assembly, in which the 193 member states voted.
This was after the United States had announced it would extend visa sanctions on Palestinian Authority (PA) officials.
While the overwhelming majority voted in favour of allowing Palestine to participate, three voted against and four abstained.
While official documents have not been released detailing all the countries to vote in favour, we know how most nations voted thanks to an image doing the rounds on social media.
Just over 30 nations did not vote or were absent.
The vote allowed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to address the General Assembly via a prerecorded statement.
