Palestine welcomes UN vote holding Israel accountable for occupation

The UN General Assembly on Friday held a vote to ask the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for an opinion on the legal consequences of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories. The Palestinians welcomed the move and said it is time for Israel to be subjected to law.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said the time has come for Israel to be a state subject to the law and to be held accountable for its ongoing crimes against our people, reported Reuters. Senior Palestinian official Hussein al-Sheikh tweeted that the vote reflects the victory of Palestinian diplomacy.

The Palestinian representative to the UN, Riyad Mansour, applauded the resolution and said this vote comes one day after the new Israeli government was formed pledging to accelerate colonial and racist policies against the Palestinian people. "We trust that, regardless of your vote today, if you believe in international law and peace you will uphold the opinion of the International Court of Justice when delivered and you will stand up to this Israeli government right now because freedom, justice, and peace shall prevail," he added.

The UNGA approved the resolution requesting the court to weigh in on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israeli "annexation", and the "legal status of the occupation." It was passed by a vote of 87 in favour and 26 against and 53 abstentions. Israel, the US, the UK, Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, and Italy were among the nations that voted against the resolution. China, Iran, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Azerbaijan were among the nations that voted in favour. France, Brazil, Denmark, Finland, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland abstained. India also abstained from voting on the issue.

The resolution was titled "Israeli practices and settlement activities affecting the rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the occupied territories'' and called on the Hague-based ICJ to "render urgently an advisory opinion" on Israel's "prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of Palestinian territory."

The resolution also called for a probe into Israeli measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character, and statue of the Holy City of Jerusalem. It said Israel has adopted "discriminatory legislation and measures."

Israeli ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan called the resolution a "moral stain" on the international body. He argued that the vote delegitimizes and demonises Israel. While he did not appear for the vote, he released a statement that read: "No international body can decide that the Jewish people are ‘occupiers’ in their own homeland. Any decision from a judicial body which receives its mandate from the morally bankrupt and politicised UN is completely illegitimate."

"The Palestinians have rejected every peace initiative while supporting and inciting terror. Instead of pushing the Palestinians to change, the UN is doing the opposite: helping them to harm the only vibrant democracy in the Middle East. The decision to hold a vote that deals with Israel on Shabbat is another example of the moral decay of the UN, which prevents Israel’s position from being heard in a vote whose results are predetermined," he added.