The Dome of the Rock has become a symbol for Jerusalem

UNITED NATIONS, December 4 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The United States on Tuesday voted for the first time against a U.N. General Assembly resolution condemning the Israeli annexation of East Jerusalem, instead of abstaining as in previous years.

The non-binding resolution declared that Israel’s Basic Law - which proclaimed Jerusalem as the eternal and indivisible capital of the Jewish state - was “illegal and therefore null and void and has no validity whatsoever,” Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

One of six texts adopted by overwhelming majorities in the Assembly, it passed by 154 votes to five, with six abstentions. For the first time also, all 15 members of the European Union (E.U.) voted for the text.

In addition to the United States and Israel itself, Costa Rica, the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia opposed the proposition, which called on all countries with embassies in Jerusalem to pull out of the city.

Last year, Nauru was the only country to vote with Israel. This year, Nauru abstained.

The resolution deplored “the transfer of some states of their diplomatic missions to Jerusalem in violation of Security Council Resolution 478 of 1980 and their refusal to comply with the provisions of that resolution.”

The Assembly voted by 160 to four in favor of another resolution which called for a final peaceful settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Three countries abstained on the vote on that text, which endorsed the efforts of the so-called Quartet - the United States, the United Nations, Russia and the E.U. - and called for all measures taken on the ground since the start of the Palestinian intifada in September 2000 to be reversed.

A resolution “stressing the illegality of Israel’s settlement construction and activities on the occupied Syrian Golan since 1967” was adopted by 109 votes to four with 57 abstentions.

Three other texts, adopted by similar majorities, commended the committee on the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and other aspects of the U.N. system and work.

According to a release published by the United Nations, a separate resolution called for the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People to continue promoting the realization of those rights, to support the Middle East peace process and to mobilize international support for and assistance to the Palestinian people.

Another text on the special information program on the question of Palestine of the U.N. Department of Public Information (DPI) asked for continued dissemination of information on all U.N. activities relating to the question of Palestine, and the organization and promotion of fact-finding news missions for journalists to the area, including the territory under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority and the occupied territory.

In adopting a resolution on the U.N. Secretariat’s Division for Palestinian Rights, the Assembly asked Secretary-General Kofi Annan to continue to provide the Division with the necessary resources to ensure that its work continues.

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