UN REJECTS US JERUSALEM MOVE DESPITE THREATS OF RETALIATON

Palestinian foreign minister Al Maliki: ‘Doesn’t the US ask why it stands alone in this position?’

The United Nations General Assembly yesterday backed a resolution condemning the United States’ decision to shift its embassy to Jerusalem and recognise the divided city as Israel’s capital.

Support for adoption was overwhelming, with 128 voting for the resolution, nine against and 35 abstaining.

Despite open threats from the US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, that Washington would retaliate for any condemnation by cutting its funding, the assembly gave strong backing to the resolution at an emergency meeting demanded by Palestine.

“This vote will make a difference on how Americans look at the UN and on how we look at countries who disrespect us in the UN,” Ms Haley told the meeting. She defended president Donald Trump’s announcement as a reflection of “the will of the American people, and our right, as a nation, to choose the location of our embassy”.

“At the UN we’re always asked to do more and give more. So, when we make a decision, at the will of the American people about where to locate our embassy, we don’t expect those we’ve helped to target us.”

Riyad Al Maliki, the Palestinian foreign minister, launched the debate by recalling the wave of adverse reaction from countries, regional bodies, the secretary general of the UN as well as leading Islamic and Christian figures.

“Doesn’t the US ask why it stands alone in this position and why its closest allies have not been able to ignore its decision?” he said. “The answer is clear. Jerusalem is the key to war and peace in the Middle East and the world at large.

“We meet today not because of any hostility towards the United States, but because of its decision, which is an attack against the right of the original Palestinian people in the city of Jerusalem, the Arab nation and all Muslims and Christians of the world.”

He said that it was the US

itself that would suffer the consequences of the shift. “This decision serves the forces of extremism and the Israeli government in the implementation of its colonial agenda, and it is unimaginable that there is any credibility for a peace plan that excludes Jerusalem.”

King Salman of Saudi Arabia and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas met in Riyadh on Wednesday as preparations in New York were under way. King Salman reiterated his country’s position on Jerusalem’s status and the Palestinians’ right for an independent state with East Jerusalem as their capital.

That was not the view in Washington, where Mr Trump fired criticism at the UN and the General Assembly ahead of the vote.

“They take hundreds of millions of dollars and even billions of dollars and then they vote against us,” he said. “Well, we’re watching those votes. Let them vote against us. We’ll save a lot. We don’t care.”

Afghanistan and Mali withdrew sponsorship of the resolution. It was co-sponsored by Yemen, chair of the Arab Group at the UN, and Turkey, chair of the summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

Diplomats expected strong support for the resolution in defiance of the US pressure.

Washington asked counties to either abstain, vote against it or simply not turn up for the vote.

A member of Fatah Central Committee, Jamal Muheisen, said that the US president’s threats to cut off aid to countries if they voted for the resolution on Jerusalem in the General Assembly were “a cheap way to extort support from countries”. He said threats would not affect member states that were fed up with Mr Trump’s bullying policies.

While resolutions by the General Assembly are non-binding, a strong vote in support of the resolution carries immense political weight.