UN rejects Trump’s declaration
Pakistan co-sponsored resolution receives 128 votes
Palestinian president says result a ‘victory for Palestine’
Turkish president says vote clear-cut rejection of US decision
UNITED NATIONS: Defying US President Donald Trump’s threat to cut off funding, the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly approved on Thursday a motion rejecting the US decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
The 193-member General Assembly adopted the motion by 128 to nine with 35 abstentions, in what Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour called a “massive setback” for the United States.
The resolution, which Pakistan co-sponsored, received 128 votes to nine against, with 35 abstentions in the 193-member Assembly.
Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and Togo joined the United States in opposing the measure.
Among the countries that abstained were Argentina, Australia, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Mexico, the Philippines, Poland, Romania and Rwanda.
The emergency session was convened by Yemen on behalf of the Arab Group and Turkey on behalf of the OIC, after the United States vetoed the motion at the Security Council on Monday where all other 14 council members voted in its favour.
Although the resolution is non-binding, it reflected United States isolation on its move to accord recognition to Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Under the terms, the Assembly “affirms that any decisions and actions which purport to have altered, the character, status or demographic composition of Jerusalem have no legal effect, are null and void and must be rescinded in compliance with relevant resolutions of the Security Council.”
The draft resolution mirrors the vetoed measure, reaffirming that any decision on the status of Jerusalem has no legal effect and must be rescinded.
On the eve of the vote, Trump suggested there could be reprisals for countries that support the motion, saying, “They take hundreds of millions of dollars and even billions of dollars and then they vote against us.”
The resolution calls upon all countries to refrain from establishing diplomatic missions in Jerusalem.
Reiterating its call for the reversal of the negative trends that endanger the two-state solution, the Assembly urged greater international and regional efforts and support aimed at achieving, without delay, a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East.
US’ ILLEGAL DECISION, POLICY REJECTED
Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dr Maleeha Lodhi said the United States’ illegal decision and policy on Jerusalem had been rejected by the world at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
The UNGA was considered as the parliament of the world and rejection of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in UNGA had sent a strong message to Washington, she said while talking to a private news channel. She said the decision had shown that the US and some of its allies were on one side, while rest of the world was on the other side.
“The support for Palestinian cause is the pillar of Pakistan’s foreign policy,” she told the General Assembly, adding that “our support remains unwavering despite all kinds of threat we received [from the US] in the recent days.”
Addressing the General Assembly, she remarked that Pakistan stand behind the Palestinians in the struggle which was proved by the unanimous support of Pakistan parliament as it echoed with the same sentiments.
Reiterating the Islamic Republic’s support to oppressed Palestinians, Lodhi said, “On behalf of the people and the government of Pakistan, I wish to reiterate that the US decision to recognise Jerusalem as the so-called capital of Israel and relocation of its embassy to the city is a violation of international law and contrary to the provisions of several UN Security Council and General Assembly resolutions. We regret and reject this action and urge the US to rescind the decision.”
Ambassador Lodhi recalled that the first-ever standalone General Assembly resolution on Jerusalem, GA Resolution 2253, adopted on 4th July 1967 at an Emergency Special Session of the General Assembly, was led and sponsored by Pakistan.
Speaking ahead of the emergency session, US Ambassador Nikki Haley warned the General Assembly that the United States “will remember this day.”
“America will put our embassy in Jerusalem,” Haley said in defence of the US move, which broke with international consensus and unleashed protests across the Muslim world.
“No vote in the United Nations will make any difference on that,” Haley said. “But this vote will make a difference on how Americans look at the UN and on how we look at countries who disrespect us in the UN.”
“When we make generous contributions to the UN we also have a legitimate expectation that our goodwill is recognized and respected,” she said.
The resolution reaffirms that the status of Jerusalem must be resolved through negotiations, and that any decision reached outside of that framework must be rescinded.
Without explicitly referencing the US move, it “affirms that any decisions and actions which purport to have altered the character, status or demographic composition of the Holy City of Jerusalem have no legal effect, are null and void and must be rescinded in compliance with relevant resolutions of the Security Council.”
REACTIONS
Immediately after the vote the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, described the result as a “victory for Palestine”. The Palestinians’ UN envoy, Riyad Mansour, described the result as a “massive setback” for the US.
“They made it about them,” Mansour told AFP. “They did not make it about Jerusalem, so when you make it about them and to only be able to get nine votes to say ‘no’ to it, I think it was a complete failure for their campaign.”
“Israel completely rejects this preposterous resolution,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said minutes after the results were announced.
“Jerusalem is our capital, always was and always will be. But I do appreciate the fact that a growing number of countries refuse to participate in this theater of the absurd,” the premier charged in a live Facebook video.
Netanyahu went on to add: “So I appreciate that and especially I want to again express our thanks to President Trump and Ambassador Haley for their stalwart defense of Israel and their stalwart defense of the truth.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday welcomed the UN General Assembly’s clear-cut rejection of a US decision on Jerusalem’s status “with great pleasure”.
Erdogan wrote on Twitter: “We welcome with great pleasure the UN General Assembly’s overwhelming support for a historic resolution on Al-Quds Al-Sharif.”
“We expect the Trump administration to rescind without further delay its unfortunate decision, whose illegality has been clearly established by UNGA,” Erdogan wrote.
‘UNPRECEDENTED TEST’
The motion was sent to the General Assembly after it was vetoed by the United States at the Security Council on Monday, although all other 14 council members voted in favour.
While resolutions by the General Assembly are non-binding, a strong vote in support carries political weight.
Ahead of the vote, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasted the UN as a “house of lies,” saying Israel “rejects outright this vote, even before it passes.”
“No General Assembly resolution will ever drive us from Jerusalem,” vowed Danny Danon, Israel’s envoy to the United Nations.
Palestinian foreign minister Riad al-Malki called the vote an “unprecedented test” for the UN, and referenced the US warning that it was “taking names.”
“History records names, it remembers names — the names of those who stand by what is right and the names of those who speak falsehood,” al-Malki said. “Today we are seekers of rights and peace.”
Trump’s decision on December 6 to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital prompted a flurry of appeals to the United Nations.
The status of the Holy City is one of the thorniest issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with both sides claiming it as their capital.
Trump warned that Washington would closely watch how nations voted, suggesting, like Haley, there could be financial reprisals for those that back the motion put forward by Yemen and Turkey on behalf of Arab and Muslim countries.
“They take hundreds of millions of dollars and even billions of dollars and then they vote against us,” Trump said at the White House.
“Well, we’re watching those votes. Let them vote against us. We’ll save a lot. We don’t care.”