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News > World

UN General Assembly Holds Special Session on Jerusalem

  • U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley vetos an Egyptian-drafted resolution regarding recent decisions concerning the status of Jerusalem, during the United Nations Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including Palestine, at U.N. Headquarters in New York City, New York, U.S., December 18, 2017

    U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley vetos an Egyptian-drafted resolution regarding recent decisions concerning the status of Jerusalem, during the United Nations Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including Palestine, at U.N. Headquarters in New York City, New York, U.S., December 18, 2017 | Photo: reuters

Published 19 December 2017
Opinion

The UN General Assembly is set to hold a special session on Thursday on request of Arab states regarding “recent decisions regarding the status of Jerusalem.”

The UN General Assembly is set to hold a special session on Thursday.

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Request for session was made by Arab and Muslim member states after the U.S. vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution draft for the U.S. to renounce its declaration of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital on Monday.

According to Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour, Thursday’s General Assembly will vote again on the draft resolution that considers “recent decisions regarding the status of Jerusalem.”

On Dec. 6 U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the Israeli capital. Political and religious rights to the city have been a main point of contention between Israeli and Palestinian governments.

The U.N. council voted in Dec. 2016 to reaffirm it’s 1967 declaration that Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem, which Palestine lays claim to, had “no legal validity” and was in “flagrant violation” of international law.

As a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council if the U.S., along with Russia, China, the UK, and France, veto a resolution, it cannot be passed. All other U.N. Security Council states voted to pass the resolution on Monday.

The draft, reads “that any decisions and actions which purport to have altered the character, status or demographic composition of the Holy City of Jerusalem have no legal effect, are null and void and must be rescinded in compliance with relevant resolutions of the Security Council.”

The Arab representatives want to invoke UN Resolution 377, known as the “Uniting for Peace” resolution, which is the only way to circumvent a Security Council veto, hoping to make "appropriate recommendations to members for collective measures,” if the Security Council fails to act.

This is only the 11th such sessions to have been convened.

Although UN General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, unlike those passed by the Security Council, they do carry political weight.

Since Dec. 6 declaration by Trump, massive protests have taken places around the world and an intifada was declared by Palestinian leaders.

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