While Arab and Islamic countries and organizations continue to welcome the historic resolution issued by the United Nations General Assembly calling on Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian territories within 12 months, many readers searched for the countries that opposed the resolution.
The resolution, submitted by the State of Palestine and adopted by a majority of 124 votes, with 14 countries objecting and 43 other countries abstaining, called on Israel to end its “illegal presence in the occupied Palestinian territories” within 12 months.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs considered the positive vote of more than two-thirds of the UN member states as a referendum on an international consensus that the occupation must end, that the occupation’s practices and crimes must stop, and that it must withdraw its forces, including the settlers.
The draft resolution submitted by the State of Palestine aimed to support the advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice last July calling for an end to the illegal Israeli occupation, the dismantling of the settlements and their illegal system and the apartheid wall, and the evacuation of all settlers from the occupied Palestinian territories, including occupied Jerusalem.
Supportive countries
Of course, the Arab and Islamic countries were among the 124 countries that supported the resolution, along with important countries such as China, Russia, France, Brazil, Norway, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Ireland, North Korea and Mexico.
Abstaining from voting
Britain and Germany were the most prominent countries that abstained from voting, along with Canada, Australia, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Austria, Denmark, Switzerland and Ukraine.
Opponents of the decision
The 14 countries that voted against the resolution were led by Israel and the United States, along with Argentina, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Malawi, and Paraguay, in addition to several very small countries, namely Micronesia, Fiji, Nauru, Palau, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Papua New Guinea.
