The Arab and Palestine caucuses started their parallel diplomatic move at the UNGA to fight for the UN resolution on Jerusalem.
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AFP PHOTO/ABBAS MOMANI
A Palestinian protestor throws a tear gas canister back toward Israeli security forces during clashes at Atarot checkpoint on the northern outskirts of Jerusalem on Dec. 19.
CAIRO, KOMPAS — The Arab and Palestine caucuses started on Tuesday (19/12) their parallel diplomatic move at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) to fight for the UN resolution on Jerusalem. At the same time, the caucuses also sent a delegation to Russia, China and France to consult on finding a new peace broker to replace the United States.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyadh al-Maliki said yesterday that the Arab and Palestine caucuses had demanded a UNGA emergency session to vote on the draft resolution on Jerusalem. The draft resolution was submitted by Egypt to the UN Security Council, but it was vetoed by the US.
Maliki told Voice of Palestine radio that there was no change in the text or substance of the draft resolution on Jerusalem that was submitted to the UNSC with the draft resolution that would be submitted to the UNGA, Kompas journalist Musthafa Abd Rahman reported from Cairo, Egypt.
The draft UN resolution primarily affirms that any decisions and actions that purport to alter the character, status or demographic composition of the Holy City of Jerusalem have no legal effect, and are null and void. It also states that the status of Jerusalem must be resolved through negotiation.
The draft resolution also calls on all states to refrain from establishing their diplomatic missions in Jerusalem. It also calls on all UN member states not to recognize any actions that go against any of the 10 UN resolutions regarding Jerusalem that have been adopted since 1967.
Palestinian Ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour, told journalists at UN Headquarters in New York that he had met with UNGA president Miroslav Lajcak. Lajcak informed all 193 delegates of UN member states in a letter on Monday evening that the UN emergency session to vote on the Jerusalem resolution would be held on Thursday.
Under a 1950 resolution, an emergency special session can be called for the UNGA to consider a matter “with a view to making appropriate recommendations to members for collective measures”, if the UNSC failed to act.
During the UNSC session to discuss the Jerusalem resolution on Monday, the US exercised its veto right. All 14 other UNSC member states, including key US partners Britain, France, Italy, Japan and Ukraine, supported the Jerusalem resolution.
“The US decision drives Israel to commit violence against Palestinian people and continues its occupation of our territory,” Mansour said after the US vetoed the draft resolution.
The UNGA forum has no veto, and while the results of the forum is non-binding, it has political pressure. Only 10 emergency UN General Assembly sessions have been held to date. The last was in 2009, when the emergency session discussed Israeli action in Palestinian territory.
The UN General Assembly has 193 member states. Palestine received UNGA recognition as a non-member observer state on Nov. 29, 2012, in a vote that 138 states supported, 9 rejected and 41 abstained.
The issue on Jerusalem’s status rose anew and triggered protests in many countries after US President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city and announced a plan to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
AFP PHOTO/KENA BETANCUR
General view of the UN Security Council room during a meeting over the situation in the Middle East on December 18, 2017, at UN Headquarters in New York. The UN Security Council is to vote on a draft resolution rejecting US President Donald Trump\'s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
New strategy
Arab-language daily As-harq al-Awsat reported yesterday that Palestine proposed that the Middle East peace broker follow the P5+1 model, which helped achieve the Iran nuclear deal framework in July 2015. The P5+1 model consists of US, Britain, France, China and Russia, plus Germany. In the context of the Arab-Israeli conflict, Palestine expected the model to be P5+2 or P5+3, with the addition of the UN and a few major Arab states, such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia or Jordan.
In this regard, Palestine also moved to obtain assurance on the roles of Russia, China and France in the upcoming peace process. The Palestinian delegation led by Nabil Shaath, the foreign affairs advisor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, will visit Russia and China this week to lobby the two countries on their involvement in the Middle East peace process.
Abbas departed to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to meet with King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud. The next day, he will be off to Paris to lobby French President Emmanuel Macron on becoming a peace broker through the P5+1 model that was used to secure the Iran nuclear deal framework.
During a meeting of Palestinian leaders in Ramallah on Monday, Abbas announced that Palestine had started the process to become members of 22 UN institutions and its bid to become a full member of the international body.
Amid the isolation of the US in the Middle East, the White House announced a delay in Vice President Mike Pence’s Middle East visit. Pence was scheduled to visit the Middle East this week, but this has been postponed to January.
Indonesian commitment
In Jakarta, Vice President Jusuf Kalla reiterated Indonesia’s commitment to keep pushing for a solution to the Palestine-Israel conflict through dialog.
“There are two ways [to solve the conflict], namely dialog and war. The Palestine issue should be solved through dialog, [through] peace,” he said, responding to the US veto at the UNSC. The Vice President called on the people not to respond emotionally to the US’s unilateral decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Meanwhile, during a monthly discussion of the Indonesian Association of Catholic Intellectuals (ISKA), Middle East observer and Kompas deputy chief editor Trias Kuncahyono said Jerusalem was far different from any other city because it was a sacred place for three religions. Spiritually, the Old City of Jerusalem is divided into four quarters – Armenian, Jewish, Christian and Muslim – that are no demarcated by any borders.
“How can we divide Jerusalem when it is already mixed? That is not easy. Christians see Jerusalem as a holy city, Muslims see Jerusalem as a sacred city, and so do the Jews,” Trias said.
The Palestine problem was an issue of sovereignty, not a religious one. “The story of Jerusalem is very long, because it is not an easy problem. Indonesia must support the independence of Palestine,” Trias said.
