The United Nations General Assembly passed six new Arab-sponsored resolutions condemning Israel on Thursday, including a resolution erasing all Jewish connection to the Temple Mount and another condemning Israel’s presence in the Golan Heights.
By contrast, in this year’s session there will be a total of six condemnatory resolutions for the rest of the world combined — with one each on Syria, North Korea, Iran, Crimea, Myanmar, as well as one criticizing the U.S. embargo on Cuba.
The Jerusalem resolution, passed by a vote of 151 votes in favor to 6 against with 9 abstentions, “reiterated that any actions by Israel, the occupying Power, to impose its laws, jurisdiction, and administration on the Holy City of Jerusalem were illegal and therefore null and void.”
The resolution referred to Jerusalem and its holy sites exclusively in Arabic, noting the Muslim significance. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizations (UNESCO) passed almost identical resolutions in 2015 and 2016.
The timing of the resolutions is interesting since it was announced this week that the Trump administration is considering moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
When Munzer Munzer the Syrian representative to the UN, presented the resolution condemning Israel for occupying the Golan Heights, he took the opportunity to condemn the Balfour Declaration “whose devastating results on the Palestinian people and the whole region continue till the day”. This resolution comes while Iran, a major sponsor of global terrorism, is establishing bases in Syria, across the border from the Golan Heights. The UN has not condemned this move by Iran.
The resolution passed 106-6 with 58 abstentions.
In an encouraging precedent, Great Britain joined the United States in voting against the anti-Israel Golan Heights resolution.
“Resolutions which undermine the credibility of UN bodies risk hardening positions on both sides, and do little to advance peace or mutual understanding,” the British delegate said to the assembly. “It is unnecessary and disproportionate.”
“The Syrian regime’s intent is to use this additional resolution to deflect attention from its own criminal actions and indiscriminate slaughter of its own citizens. The duty of the General Assembly is to draw attention to international humanitarian law violations, wherever they occur. This resolution risks discrediting that vital responsibility,” added the British delegate.
Another resolution called on the United Nations to observe an “International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People” on Nov. 29, the 1947 date that the Security Council adopted a plan for the partition of the British Mandate on Palestine, paving the way to Israel’s creation.
Though all of the member nations of the European Union (EU) voted in favor of the anti-Israel resolutions, the EU expressed displeasure at the resolutions after they passed.
“The EU stresses the need for language on the holy sites of Jerusalem to reflect the importance and historical significance of the holy sites for the three monotheistic religions,” the Estonian representative said on behalf of the EU. “The future choice of language may affect the EU’s collective support for the resolution.”
Despite a declaration by the president of Mexico two weeks ago saying his country would henceforth vote with Israel in international bodies, Mexico also voted for the resolutions.
The UN General Assembly is expected to approve another ten anti-Israel resolutions by the end of the year.
