UN members rebuke U.S.
General Assembly votes 128-9 in non-binding resolution to force U.S. to rescind declaration
The UN General Assembly voted 128-9 with 35 abstentions on Thursday in favour of a nonbinding resolution declaring U.S. President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital “null and void,” a smaller margin than the Palestinians hoped for but also a rebuke to the Trump administration, which is threatening to cut funding for those who voted “yes.”
The vote was a victory for the Palestinians though many of their supporters were predicting at least 150 “yes” votes or more.
The Trump administration launched a massive lobbying campaign, which included letters sent from U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley to more than 180 countries warning that the U.S. would be taking names of those who voted against Trump’s decision.
But when it came to the vote, major U.S. aid recipients including Egypt, Afghanistan and Iraq ignored Trump’s threat and supported the resolution.
The nine countries voting “no” were the U.S., Israel, Guatemala, Honduras, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Marshall Islands and Togo. Among the notable abstentions were Australia, Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic and Mexico.
It is also noteworthy that 21 of the 193 UN member states were absent for the vote including Kenya, Georgia and Ukraine, which have close U.S. ties.
Trump’s threat to cut off U.S. aid raised the stakes in Thursday’s UN vote and sparked criticism at his tactics, which one Muslim group called bullying or blackmail.
At the start of the emergency General Assembly meeting ahead of the vote, representatives of Arab, Islamic and non-aligned nations rejected his threat and urged a “yes” vote against the U.S. unilateral decision on Jerusalem.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki, who flew to New York for the meeting, called the U.S. action “an aggression on the status of Jerusalem” and said “those who want peace must vote for peace today.”
Trump told reporters on Wednesday that Americans are tired of being taken advantage of by countries that take hundreds of millions and even billions of dollars, and then vote against the U.S. He said he would be watching Thursday’s vote: “Let them vote against us. We’ll save a lot. We don’t care.”
Haley echoed his words in her speech to the packed assembly chamber, threatening not only the 193 UN member states with funding cuts, but the UN itself if the world body approves the resolution declaring Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem “null and void.”
“The United States will remember this day in which it was singled out for attack in the General Assembly for the very right of exercising our right as a sovereign nation,” she said.
The vote will make no difference on U.S. plans to move its embassy to Jerusalem, Haley said, but it “will make a difference on how Americans look at the UN, and on how we look at countries who disrespect us in the UN, and this vote will be remembered.”
Yemen’s UN Ambassador Khaled Hussein Mohamed Alyemany, whose country chairs the Arab Group at the UN, introduced the resolution and urged all “peaceloving countries” to vote in favour of it.
He called Trump’s action “a blatant violation of the rights of the Palestinian people and the Arab nations, and all Muslims and Christians of the world,” and “a dangerous violation and breach of international law.”
It threatens peace in the world, undermines any chance for peace in the Mideast, “and only serves to fan the fires of violence and extremism,” Alyemany warned.
The Palestinians and their Arab and Islamic supporters sought the vote after the U.S. on Monday vetoed a resolution supported by the 14 other UN Security Council members that would have required Trump to rescind his declaration on Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and not move the U.S. Embassy there.
Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour said before comments by Trump and Haley that he expected “massive support” for the resolution in the General Assembly.
Before flying to New York, al-Maliki and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu accused the U.S. of intimidation and said they believe UN members will ignore U.S. pressure.
“No honourable state would bow to such pressure,” Cavusoglu said. “The world has changed. The belief that ‘I am strong therefore I am right’ has changed. The world today is revolting against injustices.”
The resolution approved Thursday was co-sponsored by Turkey, chair of the summit of the Organization of Islamic Co-operation, and Yemen, chair of the Arab Group at the UN.
The resolution says Jerusalem “is a final status issue” and reaffirms 10 Security Council resolutions on Jerusalem, dating back to 1967, including requirements that the city’s final status must be decided in direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
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.”