UN General Assembly passes four resolutions on Palestine
Palestine-Israel, Politics, 12/2/2000

The UN General Assembly underlined the necessity of enforcing the intact rights of Palestinian people, including their right to self-determination and demanded an Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian territories occupied in 1967.

The top international body asserted in a resolution, approved by the majority of 148 votes, rejected by Israel and the United States and abstained by three others, that the refugee problem should be solved according to UN resolution 194 issued in 1948.

The resolution stressed the need for an all-out peaceful settlement to the Palestinian issue, describing it as the core of Arab-Israeli conflict, voicing full support to the peacemaking process launched in Madrid and other relevant agreements.

It also voiced hope that the process would lead to a comprehensive and just peace in the Middle East.

The General Assembly underlined the importance of commitment to the land-for-peace principle and the implementation of UN Security Council resolutions 242 issued in 1967 and 338 of 1973 as the groundwork for the peacemaking drive in the Middle East.

The resolution called for clinching a final agreement as soon as possible and urged UN member states to provide Palestinian people with urgent economic and technical aid.

The resolution also called for a more active role of the international organization in the peacemaking process and instructed UN Chief Kofi Annan to continue his efforts in consultation with the Security Council to reinforce peace in the region.

In another resolution, the General Assembly expressed appreciation of the efforts made by the committee on the intact rights of the Palestinian people.

The resolution was endorsed by the majority of 106 votes. Only Israel voted against it. A total of 48 states including the limited states abstained.

The resolution alluded to international support to the idea of setting up the Palestinian state.

The resolution particularly referred to the point mentioned by the committee in its report to the General Assembly which described as unacceptable leaving the Palestinians to shoulder the heavy burdens of occupation, noting that the issue of Jerusalem is one of the basic issues in the final-status negotiations. The U.N. General Assembly called Israel's imposition of "its laws, jurisdiction and administration" on Jerusalem illegal.

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