UNITED NATIONS, Sep 18 : The UN General Assembly on Wednesday adopted a resolution, presented by Palestine and cosponsored by Pakistan and several other countries, that demands Israel end “its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory” within 12 months.
The resolution mustered 124 votes in favour, while 43 countries abstained, and Israel, the United States and 12 others voted no.
It came ahead of next week’s high-level debate in which more than 130 world leaders, including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, are participating.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are due to address the 193-member General Assembly on September 26, the same day.
The resolution welcomes a July advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that said Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories and settlements is illegal, and should be withdrawn.
The ICJ’s advisory opinion said this should be done “as rapidly as possible,” although the General Assembly resolution imposes a 12-month deadline.
The General Assembly resolution also calls on states to “take steps towards ceasing the importation of any products originating in the Israeli settlements, as well as the provision or transfer of arms, munitions and related equipment to Israel… where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that they may be used in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”
The resolution is the first to be formally put forward by Palestine since it gained additional rights and privileges this month, including a seat among UN members in the Assembly hall and the right to propose draft resolutions.
The vote came in the middle of its 10th emergency special session considering Israeli actions in the occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Speaking in the General Assembly, Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Munir Akram emphasized that the reason for the emergency session was to “translate into action”, the advisory opinion issued by the ICJ in July.
“The ICJ’s conclusions emphasize that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, and its attempts to prolong the occupation and its security policies, violate two basic principles of international law – the right of peoples to self-determination, and the principle of non-acquisition of territory by the use of force,” the Pakistani envoy said.
He said the ICJ’s opinion “marks a milestone of justice, an expression of equity and a flame of hope”.
Ambassador Akram said, “The ICJ’s advisory opinion and the adoption of the resolution will be one decisive step toward ending the suffering of the Palestinian people.
“InshaaAllah, Palestine will soon be free.”
The Pakistani envoy noted that the “tragic history” of Palestine and its people was caused by a series of legal and political decisions “imposed by colonial and imperial powers”, including the partition of Palestine – despite the opposition of Arab and Islamic nations.
Pakistan’s founding leader, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, warned in 1948 that Israel’s creation would have grave consequences and now “history is witness to these consequences,” he said.
“A brutal occupation which has lasted 50 years, the steady acquisition of Palestinian lands, properties and homes to accommodate illegal and aggressive Jewish settlers. The imposition of a segregated apartheid rule in occupied Palestine.”
Ambassador Akram said the adoption of the resolution required a re-evaluation of the position of member states and the UN, especially the Security Council, with regard to Palestine.
It should reinvigorate the international community’s efforts to oblige Israel to halt its genocidal military campaign in Gaza and its operations in the West Bank and to withdraw its forces forthwith from there, he added.
“Also, those states, which are continuing to provide military and material support to Israel, must halt this in accordance with their obligation not to help in perpetuating Israeli occupation. Further, the world community must take concrete steps to enable the Palestinians to exercise their right to self-determination.
“One important step is to admit the State of Palestine as a full member of the United Nations; another would be to convene the international conference on Palestine to advance the two-state solution.”
Pakistan, he said, would actively promote the realization of the objectives and decisions arising from the ICJ’s advisory opinion and the adoption of the draft resolution.
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