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CHICAGO & WASHINGTON (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution on Saturday condemning Israel's "excessive use of force against Palestinians," with the United States abstaining, allowing the measure to go into force. The other 14 Council members voted in favor of the resolution, which followed marathon negotiations over two days between U.S. envoys and supporters of the Palestinians, including intervention by President Clinton. The Council also said it deplores the "provocation" at Jerusalem's holiest shrine on September 28 and the violence that followed, a clear reference to the visit to the site by right-wing Israeli politician Ariel Sharon, the individual deemed responsible for the massacre of Palestinian civilians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps during Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon. Clinton personally asked for a delay in the vote early Saturday after a final draft resolution was offered which the United States said it had little choice but to veto. When Council President Martin Andjaba of Namibia called for the vote and asked those in favor to raise their hands, U.S. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke mistakenly put his hand up briefly, to laughter from other ambassadors in the Security Council chamber. Holbrooke, who was up all night negotiating, smiled and seconds later raised his hand to abstain, making the final vote 14-0-1. Holbrooke said the "tough decision" to abstain was taken at the highest levels because the Clinton administration believes that it will be better able to serve U.S. national interests and deal with the "great dangers that exist in the region of the Middle East today." Israel's U.N. Ambassador, Yehuda Lancry, called it "the final product of a series of draft resolutions which were more unbalanced and more one-sided." But Palestinian U.N. observer Nasser Al-Kidwa said the resolution contains "extremely important elements," including the condemnation of violence and the implicit references to Israel's excessive use of force and Sharon's provocation. The 114-member Non-Aligned Movement group, mainly composed of developing nations, had been pressing for Council condemnation of Israel for the past week at the urging of al-Kidwa. The United States tried to head off the resolution, saying Council action would interfere with efforts to try to end the bloodshed and salvage the Middle East peace process. The document also calls for the immediate resumption of the Middle East peace process, jeopardized by the violence. It stresses "the importance of establishing a mechanism for a speedy and objective inquiry" into recent events. In addition, Israel should "abide scrupulously" by its obligations under the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, dealing with the protection of civilians in time of war. But it no longer specifies that the convention is applicable to all the territories occupied by Israel since 1967. |
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