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The assembly overwhelmingly approved the resolution
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UNITED
NATIONS, May 7 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The U.N.
General Assembly overwhelmingly affirmed the right of Palestinian
sovereignty over their lands occupied by Israel in 1967, in what could
be seen as a direct rebuke to U.S. President George W. Bush.
The
191-nation body voted 140-6 Thursday, May 6, with 11 abstentions, to
adopt a resolution affirming "that the status of the Palestinian
territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, remains one
of military occupation".
In
accordance with U.N. resolutions and principles of international law
"the Palestinian people have the right to self-determination and
to sovereignty over their territory", read the text of the
resolution.
The
resolution - not legally-binding, but a reflection of international
opinion - also made clear that Israel could not speak for the occupied
territories at the United Nations, Arab diplomats were quoted by
Reuters as saying.
In
the final text, language that Israel "has no sovereignty over any
part of this territory" was dropped and replaced with "has
only the duties and obligations of an occupying power".
Isolation
Palestinian
U.N. Observer Nasser al-Kidwa said the measure was "of extreme
importance".
The
resolution reaffirms that Palestinian territory occupied by Israel
since the 1967 Middle East War was "territory under military
occupation”, al-Kidwa was quoted by Reuters as saying.
The
vote also showed "the total isolation of the Israeli-American
position."
Only
four small Pacific islands - the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru
and Palau - joined Israel and the United States in voting
"no".
Israeli
U.N. Ambassador Dan Gillerman claimed the resolution was intended to
"undermine the negotiating process and not to further it".
U.S.
Deputy Ambassador James Cunningham said he voted "no"
because the text was "inappropriate and ill-timed, and would
detract from, rather than enhance," ongoing peace efforts.
‘Rebuke’
The
measure came as a fresh embarrassment to the United States over its
support to Israel despite overwhelming objection of the international
community.
The
lopsided vote that Palestinians have the right of sovereignty over the
West Bank and Gaza Strip is a "rebuke to Bush", Reuters news
agency said.
Breaking
with a decades-old U.S. policy, Bush said after talks with Israeli
Premier Ariel Sharon Wednesday, April 15, Israel
could keep Palestinian territories occupied in
the 1967 war, and that Palestinian refugees should not be allowed to
return to their homes in what is today Israel.
The
statements- Arabs slammed as another Balfour promise to Israel - has
drawn ire as the U.N. resolutions affirm that
Israel should end occupation of occupied Arab, including Palestinian
territories captured after the 1967 war.
Thirty-two
draft resolutions criticizing Israel since 1972 have
never seen the light because the U.S. used its
Security Council veto to block them, the Guardian reported on
September 24.
Facing
a heavy wave of criticism over his promise to Israel, Bush said in
Washington Thursday that the United States would not prejudice the
outcome of final negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
No
Return
The
U.N. resolutions also brand as illegal all Jewish settlements on
occupied Palestinian areas both in the Best bank and Gaza Strip.
Even
the U.S.-drafted roadmap blueprint stipulates the establishment of a
Palestinian state alongside Israel, which is urged to pull out to
pre-1967 borders.
U.N.
General Assembly resolution 194 on Palestinian refugees states
that "refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace
with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest
practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the
property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to
property which, under principles of international law or in equity,
should be made good by the Governments or authorities
responsible".
The
Palestinian Authority estimates at more than 6.5 million the number of
Palestinian refugees and their descendents, the world’s oldest and
largest refugee population and more than one-fourth of the entire
refugee population worldwide.
It
said that in 1967, approximately 200,000 Palestinians fled their homes
in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip when Israel launched a war against
Jordan and Egypt, capturing and occupying the West Bank, including
al-Quds, and the Gaza Strip (the Occupied Palestinian Territories).
Neither
the 1948 refugees nor the 1967 displaced persons have been allowed by
Israel to return to their homes in what is now Israel and the occupied
Palestinian territories.
