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| The votes come ahead of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people on November 29th. |
The resolution urging a peaceful settlement to the conflict passed by 155 in favour, 7 against and 7 abstentions. The General Assembly also declared certain actions by Israel in parts of Jerusalem illegal, and therefore null and void and without validity.
The votes come ahead of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people on November 29th. It’s an annual event at the global body.
With votes endorsing the return to peace talks, denouncing settlements in disputed East Jerusalem and in support of the work of the UN Committee fighting for the rights of the Palestinian people.
Indonesia’s Ambassador Desra Percaya who is Vice Chair of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the
Palestinian People says: "We are one major provocation in Jerusalem away from a descent into a religious war, the likes of which the world has not seen. The trust between the parties has reached a new low, and there are no new peace initiatives on the horizon coming from the United States for at least a year. The time for symbolic steps, half measures and sterile debates is over."
Despite the world body largely rallying behind the Palestinian cause in the adopted resolutions, the General Assembly’s decision are viewed more symbolically and cannot legally be enforced by member states, much like the annual resolution on Cuba calling for the economic embargo to be lifted.
On the Palestinian question, such binding resolutions are the purview of the Security Council, with Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour calling for its members to act.
“Israel must be demanded to cease its violations and comply with the law - military aggressions must end, settlement activities must end, settler terror must end, the Gaza blockade must end, collective punishment must end, imprisonment and detention of Palestinians must end, destruction must end, provocations and incitement must end, including at Al-Haram Al-Sharif, the humiliation and isolation of the Palestinian people must end. This illegal occupation must end.”
Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon denounced what he referred to as General Assembly bias against his country, and accused Arab nations of refusing to accept the existence of a Jewish state alongside their own.
“Let no one be fooled. No amount of biased resolutions and empty symbols will bring the change that the people of the region so desperately need. You can raise a Palestinian flag here in the UN, but as long as the Palestinians fail to raise a generation committed to peace and reconciliation, there will be no end to the violence. As long as those in this chamber do not demand that Palestinian leaders make the difficult decisions needed for peace, no rhetoric and no theatrics will improve the lives of the Palestinian people.”
And despite the actions here, General Assembly ‘gestures’ alone will not change the status quo for
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