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Countering U.S. Veto, UN Assembly Boosts Arafat Role
By Irwin Arieff
Thursday December 20 7:36 PM ET
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Reacting to Israeli attacks on the Palestinian
Authority and a U.S. veto in the Security Council, the U.N. General
Assembly on Thursday backed a central role for Yasser Arafat in diplomatic
efforts to end 15 months of Middle East violence.
The 189-nation assembly met in an emergency special session after
Washington, Israel's closest ally, last Saturday vetoed a Security Council
resolution stating that the Palestinian Authority was essential to the
peace process.
Following recent Israeli military strikes on Palestinian Authority targets
and its declaration that Arafat was ''irrelevant,'' one resolution approved
by the assembly on Thursday stressed Arafat's administration ``remains the
indispensable and legitimate party for peace and needs to be preserved
fully.''
Identical to the resolution vetoed last week by Washington, it also branded
Israeli settlements in Palestinian areas ``as illegal and an obstacle to
peace.''
It was approved 124-6 with 25 abstentions. The Marshall Islands,
Micronesia, Nauru and Tuvalu joined Israel and the United States in voting
'no', while most European nations voted for the resolution. Among those
abstaining were Britain, Japan, Australia, Norway, Bulgaria, Romania and
Slovenia.
A second assembly resolution, approved by a 133-4 vote with 16 abstentions,
endorsed a declaration adopted by an international conference in Geneva on
Dec. 5 calling on ``the occupying power'' -- Israel -- to refrain from
``willful killing, torture (and) unjustified restrictions of free
movement.''
Just the Marshall Islands and Micronesia joined the United States and
Israel in opposing the second resolution. Major Western industrial
countries generally voted in favor except for Australia and Canada, which
abstained.
ISRAEL SEES ARAFAT ON ``ROAD TO NOWHERE''
``Unfortunately, these resolutions, like the resolution before the Security
Council last week, fail to address the terrible dynamic at work in the
region,'' said U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte.
``Instead its purpose is to isolate politically one of the parties to the
conflict through an attempt to throw the weight of the General Assembly
behind the other party,'' he said.
Israeli Ambassador Aaron Jacob said Arafat, despite recent statements that
he was cracking down on extremists, was on ``the road to nowhere.''
But Palestine's U.N. observer, Nasser al-Kidwa, argued the resolutions
underlined ``in a glaring way the obscene situation of one state that
considers itself above the law and publicly expresses its contempt for U.N.
resolutions with the cover and automatic protection of the world's
superpower.''
The special session was called by Egypt, on behalf of the Arab League, and
by South Africa, which leads the Non-Aligned Movement of largely developing
countries.
Negroponte said on Saturday Washington vetoed the measure in the 15-nation
Security Council because it was aimed at isolating Israel politically and
did not mention recent suicide bombings against Israelis or those
responsible for them.
But the United States does not have veto power in the General Assembly.
Assembly resolutions, however, reflect only the will of the international
community while Security Council actions can be legally binding under
international law.
The emergency special session was the fourth in recent years to be called
to consider ``illegal Israeli actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and the
rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory.''
Earlier sessions, which took place in 1997, 1998 and 2000, date back to the
establishment of new Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory in 1997.
At least 784 Palestinians and 233 Israelis have been killed since the
Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation erupted in September 2000
after the Middle East peace process stalled.
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