Hopes of greater international recognition towards Palestinian statehood were dashed again this week after the United States vetoed a Security Council measure on full UN membership for Palestine. The US was the only Security Council member to veto the motion, which saw twelve countries vote in favour of a draft resolution recommending Palestinian membership, with the United Kingdom and Switzerland abstaining. The vote came in the seventh month of Israel’s brutal war on Gaza, which has thrust the Palestine issue into the geopolitical spotlight, while fears of the war spilling over into the wide…