TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Inconsequential but symbolic UN resolution
The UN resolution sent a clear message that most of the world are with the Palestinian people.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Palestinians gather for a polio vaccination campaign at a United Nations healthcare center in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Sept. 1, 2024. (Reuters/Ramadan Abed)
I
t may be inconsequential, but the latest United Nations General Assembly resolution demanding that Israel end its decades-long occupation of Palestinian territories is symbolic of the global sentiment against the injustices inflicted by the Jewish state on the Palestinian people.
The resolution was passed on Wednesday with 124 countries voting for, 14 against and 43 abstaining. Among the permanent members of the Security Council, France, Russia and China supported it, the United Kingdom abstained and the United States opposed it.
Even if the resolution were binding, which it is not, Israel would not abide by it, just as it has ignored dozens of other earlier UN resolutions. Given the US policy on Israel, we can forget about sending the resolution to the Security Council.
Nevertheless, in the diplomatic world, this is a major step forward in the quest for peace and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. As the Palestinian people continue to suffer under the barrage of Israeli killings, attacks and harassment in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, the resolution sent a clear message that most of the world are with them.
The resolution was drafted by the State of Palestine, which has non-member status but is now recognized by the Assembly as a sovereign state following a resolution in May. Coming a week before world leaders gather for the annual General Assembly sessions, the resolution should put Israel’s illegal occupation as a major topic of discussion.
Indonesia, which voted for the resolution, should take this up in the Assembly, lobbying with other countries to put pressure on Israel and the US, first to end the killings of innocent Palestinian civilians, and then to sit down and negotiate a peaceful settlement that includes no less than giving the Palestinians their independence, sovereignty and dignity.
Gaza's health ministry says more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks, and thousands more are buried under rubble and threatened by diseases.
The resolution referred to the July advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice which described the Israeli occupation as violating international laws, and defined the Palestinian territories to include Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. This territorial definition makes for a viable Palestinian state under a two-state solution concept.
With this latest General Assembly resolution, Indonesia should campaign to get Israel and the state of Palestine to restart the negotiations for a two-state solution to end the occupation, and the war, once and for all.
