UN to vote on Palestinian resolution calling for end of Israeli occupation

UNITED NATIONS: The U.N. General Assembly will vote Wednesday on a Palestinian resolution that demands Israel end its “unlawful presence” in Gaza and the occupied West Bank within one year and withdraw its military forces and evacuate all settlers. The resolution coincides with Israel’s standoff with Hamas, which approaches the first anniversary of fighting between the two sides, and violence has been intensifying in the West Bank in recent weeks.

The Palestinian UN Ambassador, Riyad Mansour, opened the assembly meeting with a focus on the “existential threat” that he said Palestinians had been held “in shackles” by Israeli occupation. He added such decades must come to an end, calling upon them to return home and live in peace and freedom.

In contrast, Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon called on member states to vote against the resolution, which he describes as “an attempt to destroy Israel through diplomatic terrorism.” According to Danon, the resolution did not adequately condemn Hamas and distorted the actual facts of the case.
Legally non-binding, adoption of the resolution would still be an important marker of public opinion throughout the world on the issue. Unlike the Security Council, the General Assembly has no vetoes.

The resolution follows an earlier July opinion of the International Court of Justice that declared that Israel’s presence in the Palestinian territories is unlawful and must cease. Although the court’s opinion is non-binding also, the Palestinians have drafted this resolution to force its implementation arguing that whatever steps Israel continues to take amount to a violation of international laws.

Mansour repeated that any state believing Palestinians would accept to be in a state of servitude is unrealistic. He added that any fair solution should base on the idea of a sovereign Palestinian state along the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

US Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas Greenfield, termed the resolution as “marred by a significant number of flaws.” She accused the resolution of making no identification of Hamas as a terror organization and further destroying Israel’s right to self-defence.

The resolution asks Israel to pay Palestinians damages for the damage it has caused, calls on measures to prevent trade or investments that maintain its presence, and holds authorities accountable for violations of international law. It calls sanctions against those who maintain the presence and calls for a freeze on arms exports to Israel if suspected of being utilized in occupied territories.

Mansour said the first draft called for the end of occupation within six months but later was changed to one year, conceding some flexibility because pressure from several countries had yielded some change. He doubted that Israel would take notice of the resolution.