Tenth emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly
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The Tenth emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly centered on the Palestine issue: the ongoing dispute and conflict over the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
An emergency special session is an unscheduled meeting of the General Assembly to make non-binding (yet urgent) decisions and recommendations regarding a particular issue. They are typically rare — a fact reflected in there being only 10 in the history of the United Nations. Most emergency special sessions span a single session — the tenth, however, is the only emergency special session to be resumed more than once (the seventh emergency special session was resumed once).
The fact that it has spanned so many sessions can be seen as an indicator of the importance of the issue in international politics. The session was first held in 1997 under the president of the General Assembly, Razali Ismail of Malaysia. This occurred when the Security Council failed to make a decision on the issue at two different meetings.
It has, so far, resumed 12 times - twice in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003.
The principle of emergency special sessions was created by 1950 Uniting for Peace General Assembly resolution wherein it is stated that:
... if the Security Council, because of lack of unanimity of the permanent members, fails to exercise its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security in any case where there appears to be a threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression, the General Assembly shall consider the matter immediately with a view to making appropriate recommendations to Members for collective measures, including in the case of a breach of the peace or act of aggression the use of armed force when necessary, to maintain or restore international peace and security.