TEHRAN, December 18 - The Palestinian leadership may turn to the U.N. General Assembly if Washington vetoes a draft U.N. Security Council resolution to reaffirm Jerusalem al-Quds’s status as unresolved, after US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize it as Israel’s ‘capital’.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - The Palestinian United Nations envoy raised this option in remarks published in Saudi daily Arab News on Monday, ahead of a Security Council vote on an Egyptian-drafted resolution about Jerusalem al-Quds’s status which the United States is expected to veto.
The draft says 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status or demographic composition of the Holy City of Jerusalem have no legal effect, are null and void and must be rescinded”.
Trump’s Dec. 6 decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s ‘capital’ and to move the U.S. Embassy to the city has provoked widespread anger and protests among Palestinians as well as broad international criticism, including from top U.S. allies.
Arab News quoted Ambassador Riyad Mansour as saying that the Palestinians and Egyptians have worked closely with Security Council members while drafting the resolution to ensure that it gets overwhelming support.
“The Europeans in particular asked us to avoid terms like ‘denounce’ and ‘condemn,’ and not to mention the U.S. by name,” it quoted Mansour as saying. “We acceded to their request but kept the active clauses rejecting all changes to Jerusalem and the reaffirmation of previous decisions.”
Mansour said Palestinians resorted to the “Uniting for Peace” resolution in the 1990s after begining of a settlement on Jabal Abut Ghnaim, a hilltop on occupied West Bank land south of Jerusalem al-Quds, but left that session in suspension. However, they could seek a resumption of the session, he said.
“If the resolution is vetoed, the Palestinian delegation can send a letter to the U.N. Secretary General and ask him to resume the emergency session,” he said, according to Arab News.
Source: Reuters
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