The UN General Assembly approved this Wednesday (18) a resolution to demand the “end of Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories”, with a majority of 124 votes in favor and only 14 against, but on this occasion with many abstentions, 43 in total.
A two-thirds majority was needed to support this resolution, which is non-binding, like all Assembly resolutions, but which is in a way historic, as it was presented for the first time by the Palestinian Authority, which, despite not having a full state, has gained some powers in recent months.
While Muslim and African countries voted almost en bloc in favor of the resolution, the European Union (EU) was divided with votes in favor (including Spain and France), against (Hungary and the Czech Republic) and several abstentions (Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and Poland).
Israel and the United States once again demonstrated their solid alliance in these votes considered critical for the former, having on their side Argentina, Paraguay and several Pacific island countries, which always vote with the Americans.
12 month term
Wednesday’s resolution calls on Israel to “put an end, without delay, to its illegal presence in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem (…) and to do so no later than 12 months after the adoption of the resolution.”
The text also says that Israel must “return the lands confiscated from the Palestinians”, allowing the return of people displaced by the settlements and reparations to those affected, and calls on the international community “not to recognize the territorial, legal and demographic consequences of the occupation of Palestinian lands”.
However, the language of the resolution, this time very harsh towards Israel, did not convince several countries, such as Canada, Australia, India, Switzerland and many Europeans, who chose to abstain.
As a result, the resolution adopted today had less consensus than the one voted in May at the same Assembly in favor of Palestine’s full membership of the UN: 143 countries supported it and only nine voted against.
On Tuesday (17), when presenting the resolution, the Palestinian Authority’s ambassador to the UN, Riad Mansour, said that “no occupying power should infringe on the inalienable rights” of the Palestinians.
“Justice is the only path to peace. Respect international law and do not sacrifice it for cold political calculations,” he said.
Soon after, the Israeli ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, took the floor, referring to this moment as “a circus where terror is applauded”.
“Anyone who votes in favor is collaborating with violence and insulting the very functioning of this institution (…) They are trying to isolate and destroy Israel, this resolution delays the hope of peace in the region,” said Danon.
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said she rejected “unilateral resolutions” on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict because they are “unrealistic” and considered that “peace will only come through negotiations between the two sides” towards a two-state solution.
This is the path the US has been trying to implement for months, without success, through a previous ceasefire in the war between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group in the Gaza Strip.
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