Anti-Settlements Draft Resolution Presented to Security Council
RAMALLAH, February 15, 2011 (WAFA) - PLO Executive Committee member and member of the Palestinian Legislative Council Hanan Ashrawi confirmed Tuesday that a draft resolution condemning Israel’s illegal settlement activities and calling for all such activities to stop has been officially presented and placed on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council.
Debate and a vote on the resolution are expected to take place this week, said Ashrawi.
She said that the announcement on Monday of plans for the construction of a further 120 new settlement units in the illegal settlements of Ramot Allon and Pisgat Ze’ev in occupied East Jerusalem, and Israel’s stepped up settlement activity more generally, further reinforce the urgency of this resolution.
“Israeli exceptionalism and impunity have been sanctioned by the United States at the expense of Palestinian rights and the achievement of a just peace,” she said.
“The draft resolution is consistent with the mandate of the United Nations Security Council and international law. A veto by the United States would be seen globally as a direct affront to the international community and the requirements of peace,” Ashrawi said.
She called on the US to draw the proper conclusions from the revolution in Egypt.
“The determination and courage shown by all segments of Egyptian society these past few weeks serve as a powerful reminder that no one can indefinitely suppress a people’s yearning for and right to freedom, dignity and justice. For over 40 years, Palestinians in the occupied territory have been subjected to systematic violence and human rights violations at the hands of Israel’s occupation. All the while claiming to be the ‘only democracy in the Middle East,’ in reality Israel has maintained one of the longest and most brutal military occupations in history. It does so with full American political and financial support,” Ashrawi said.
“It is time for the United States to understand that it is precisely the same longing for freedom, dignity, democracy and human rights that motivated the Tunisian and Egyptian popular uprisings, that also animates the Palestinian struggle. Israeli violations do not just victimize the Palestinian people, they also inflame Arab public opinion against Israel’s occupation and American complicity, as well as the ineffectiveness and collusion of their own regimes.”
“It is time for Israel’s occupation to be lifted and for the Palestinian people to be allowed to exercise their right to self-determination on their own land. The adoption of this resolution condemning ongoing illegal Israeli settlement activity sends the proper signal not just to the Palestinians, but also to Arab and international public opinion,” concluded Ashrawi.
M.A.
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