New York – UN General Assembly Supports Resolution Ignoring Jewish Ties To Temple Mount

New York – The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly voted to support a resolution that used solely Muslim language to describe the Temple Mount.

Out of the UN’s 193 member states, 147 voted in favor, seven voted against and eight abstained.

The Jerusalem resolution was one of six resolutions condemning Israel and supporting the Palestinians that the UNGA approved Wednesday, as part of its special annual session for the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, which begun on Tuesday.

All the European member states present in the room voted in favor of the resolution countries such as France, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom.

The states who opposed the Jerusalem resolutions were: Canada, Israel, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Naura and Palu.

Those who abstained were: Australia, Guatemala, Panama, Papa New Guiea, Paraguay and Vanuatu.

The Jerusalem resolutions numbered A/71/l.22, addressed the situation in Jerusalem and its holy sites, stating that “any actions taken by Israel, the occupying Power, to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the Holy City of Jerusalem are illegal and therefore null and void and have no validity whatsoever, and calls upon Israel to immediately cease all such illegal and unilateral measures.”

The text called on Israel to “respect for the historic status quo at the holy places of Jerusalem” and “urges all sides to work immediately and cooperatively to defuse tensions and halt all provocations, incitement and violence at the holy sites in the City.”

The resolutions were introduced by a group of mostly Arab countries including Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority among others, but also some Asian countries like Indonesia, and Lao People’s Democratic Republic, as well as a few African countries.

Resolutions A/71/l.18 and A/71/l.19, the first in the series, pledge respectively to support the UN’s Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People in its efforts to end the Israeli “occupation,” and extend member state’s cooperation with and support to the division for Palestinian Rights of the UN Secretariat.

Draft resolution A/71/l.20, also adopted on Wednesday, with 153 votes in favor, 7 abstentions and 7 negative votes, aims to disseminate information on the Palestinian narrative of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well as on all the activities of the United Nations system relating to the question of “Palestine.” The resolution also states the need to organize and promote “fact-finding news missions for journalists to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.”

In resolution A/71/l.21, the General Assembly calls for “a peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine”. It also “calls upon Israel, the occupying Power, to comply strictly with its obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, and to cease all of its measures that are contrary to international law and all unilateral actions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.”

The last draft text adopted by the assembly, resolution A/71/l.8, adopted by a vote of 103 in favor, 6 abstentions and 56 votes against it, demands that Israel withdraw from all of the Golan Heights up to the line of June 1967 and hand it over to Syria.

Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said, “Today’s resolutions are yet another example of the daily bias Israel’s faces in the UN. At the same time that Israel is celebrating the historic decision to re-establish the Jewish state in our homeland, the UN continues to fund organizations and pass resolutions that do nothing to better the lives of the Palestinians.”

The United States voted against all the resolutions. The representative of the US mission at the GA session spoke out against the “disproportionate number of resolutions condemning Israel.”

He further states that voting on these resolutions “damages the prospect for peace”

“All parties to the conflict have responsibility to end the conflict,” he said. The US representative also added that his country is “disappointed” that the General Assembly chooses to single out Israel, which is “counterproductive.”

The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is observed by the United Nations on November 29th each year, the date marking the anniversary of the General Assembly Partition, establishing the state of Israel.