The United Nations
General Assembly adopted a resolution Friday demanding Israel not
deport or threaten the safety of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat
in a vote of 133:4 with 15 abstentions.
The resolution by Arab
and non-aligned countries circumvented a United States veto of a
similar resolution in the Security Council earlier this
week.
The resolution was
adopted at its 10th emergency special emergency session to consider
illegal Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of
the occupied territories at the request of the League of Arab
States.
It also called for "the
complete cessation of all acts of violence, including all acts of
terrorism, provocation, incitement and destruction," and expressed
full support for the Road Map peace plan.
The Road Map put forward
by the so-called diplomatic Quartet -- the UN, the European Union,
the Russian Federation and the United States -- calls for parallel
and reciprocal steps by Israel and the Palestinians leading to two
states living side by side in peace by 2005.
The four negative votes
came from Israel, Marshall Islands, Micronesia and the United
States.
Nasser Al-Kidwa,
Palestinian observer to the UN, said the situation in the Middle
East had reached a new nadir with the Israeli government's decision
to remove Yasser Arafat. The Israeli policy constituted an assault
on the dignity of the Palestinian people and confirmed the intent
of the Sharon government to attack and fragment the Palestinian
leadership.
Elfatih Ahmed Erwa,
Sudanese ambassador to the UN, speaking on behalf of the Arab
Group, introduced the draft resolution. He said it was important
for the General Assembly to adopt a decisive resolution that would
force Israel to change its ways.
He criticized the United
States for blindly supporting Israel and imposing its will on the
world despite its role as an honest broker in the Middle East peace
process.
Malaysian ambassador to
the UN Rastam Mohd Isa, speaking on behalf of the Non-Aligned
Movement, said that there had been a clear attempt in the Security
Council to divert attention by labeling Arafat a terrorist and
calling for his removal from the urgent issue at hand, namely
Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian land and the humiliation
of the Palestinian people.
As a result, the
Assembly must show that the international community and the United
Nations had not abandoned the Palestinian people through strong
support for the draft resolution.
Russian ambassador to
the UN Sergey Lavrov said that it was now more necessary than ever
to stop all acts of terror when Palestinian-Israel relations were
at a new low. He called on the Palestinian authority to do more to
stop its citizens from engaging in terror. Meanwhile, he emphasized
that Israel's plan to remove Arafat from power would be a grave
mistake that would lead to serious problems.
He also urged the
Security Council to apply greater pressure on all parties to
implement the Road Map.
Chinese Permanent
Representative to the UN Wang Guangya said Israel's decision to
expel President Arafat would only serve to deepen the hatred
between the two sides. He urged Israel to reconsider its decision
and asked both sides to continue to engage in peace talks, as that
would be the only way to end the three-year cycle of
violence.
He also pledged China's
efforts to play a constructive role in bringing long-term stability
to the Middle East.
Marcello Patafora,
Italian ambassador to the UN, speaking on behalf of the European
Union and associated states, said that the Israeli decision to
expel Arafat, leader of the Palestinian authority, was a serious
mistake, adding to the tension and undermining any negotiated
solution to the ongoing conflict.
He also condemned
terrorist attacks against Israeli citizens in the strongest
possible terms, saying the authors of those attacks were enemies of
peace.
He reaffirmed the
importance of re-launching the peace process with Israel within the
framework of the Road Map.
Israeli UN envoy Dan
Gillerman claimed that Arafat is an obstacle to peace and
criticized the draft resolution for focusing criticism on the
response to terrorism and not the terrorism itself, and for being
"devoid of moral substance."
US ambassador to the UN
John Negroponte said while the United States did not support the
elimination or exile of Arafat, it opposed the resolutions
considered during the past week for their imbalance and failure to
condemn certain Palestinian militant groups.
The 10th emergency
special session dates back to 1997 when Israel began construction
of a new settlement south of East Jerusalem. The Security Council
met twice on this issue, but failed to adopt resolutions. Using the
"Uniting for Peace" formula, a special emergency session of the
Assembly was convened in April and again in July and November of
1997. It also resumed in 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001.
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(Xinhua News Agency September 20, 2003)