The defeat of US stance on Jerusalem by overwhelming majority (128-9) in the United Nations General Assembly is the victory of truth and justice. The world has given its verdict against US President Donald Trump’s December 6 unilateral decision by which he recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Even before the announcement, US administration was advised by the world to avoid taking such a step which violate international law and UNSC’s decisions and would push the Middle East and the world to further instability and insecurity. President Trump did not pay heed to these wise calls and announced a unilateral decision triggering massive unrest across the world.
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in its outstanding session held on December 13 in Istanbul declared East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine, and rejected the US stance terming it as “dangerous” and called on the international community to follow in its footsteps.
When the United Nations Security Council on December 18 demanded that the Trump administration must rescind its decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and to put the United States Embassy there, the US vetoed the resolution. Even America’s closest allies on the 15-member Council voted for the resolution singling out the US. The United Nations General Assembly on December 21 denounced the Trump administration’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. In a 128-9 vote, the UNGA passed a resolution, co-sponsored by Egypt, Pakistan, Iran and Yemen that expressed “deep regret at recent decisions concerning the status of Jerusalem.” All Muslim countries including Qatar supported the resolution.
The resolution calls for Jerusalem’s final status to be negotiated between Israel and the Palestinians. It also affirms that any decisions and actions that “purport to have altered, the character, status or demographic composition of the Holy City of Jerusalem are null and void.” Within a week time the US has faced major diplomatic failures, which are being considered as success to the Palestinians, international law and the United Nations. Even attempts of using its financial power to threat poor countries and its traditional allies the US did not yield required results for Trump administration. With this decision, the US has also lost its role of a key mediator in the Middle East peace process.
Qatar’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani welcomed the passing of resolution from UNGA and tweeted: “The majority vote of international community in favor of #UN resolution on #Quds reaffirms the just cause and right of the Palestinians to establish their own independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.”
