UNITED NATIONS : Pakistan, as chairman of Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and over 90 countries Monday signed a statement expressing \u201cdeep concern\u201d at Israel\u2019s punitive measures against the Palestinian people, leadership and civil society following a UN General Assembly\u2019s resolution calling on the world court to give an opinion on the legal consequences of the Israeli illegal occupation of Palestinian territories.<\/p>\n
The signatories called for a reversal of the Israeli measures, saying regardless of their position on the 193-member Assembly\u2019s landmark resolution, \u201cwe reject punitive measures in response to a request for an advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).\u201d<\/p>\n
On December 30, the General Assembly voted 87-26 with 53 abstentions to adopt the resolution requesting an opinion from the Hague-based International Court of Justice on the legality of Israeli policies in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem.<\/p>\n
In retaliation, Israel announced a series of sanctions, including financial ones, on January 6 against the Palestinian Authority (PA) to make it \u201cpay the price\u201d for pushing for the resolution. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a meeting of his Cabinet two days later that the measures against the Palestinians were aimed at what he called \u201can extreme anti-Israel\u201d step at the United Nations.<\/p>\n
The measures included stripping VIP benefits from PA officials that allowed them and their families permits to go through checkpoints that are closed to most Palestinians. Other measures included seizing tax revenues Israel collects on behalf of the PA and freezing Palestinian construction in Area C of the Occupied West Bank.<\/p>\n
\u201cRegardless of each country\u2019s position on the resolution, we reject punitive measures in response to a request for an advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice, and more broadly in response to a General Assembly resolution, and call for their immediate reversal,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n
Also on Monday, a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he \u201cnotes with deep concern the recent Israeli measures against the Palestinian Authority\u201d and that there should \u201cbe no retaliation with respect to the Palestinian Authority in relation to the International Court of Justice.\u201c<\/p>\n
Monday\u2019s statement was signed by countries that voted for this resolution (Algeria, Argentina, Belgium, Ireland, Pakistan and South Africa, among others) but also by some that abstained \u2014 Japan, France and South Korea \u2014 and others that voted against, like Germany and Estonia.<\/p>\n
Palestine\u2019s U.N. Ambassador Riyad Mansour hailed the statement of support, saying that \u201cwe exercised our democratic rights to go to the General Assembly in a peaceful way, a legal way, and put a question to the ICJ to seek an advisory opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is amazing about that statement,\u201d he said, is that it was signed by some countries that abstained or voted against the resolution referring the question to the court.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut to punish people for going to the General Assembly in an adoption of a resolution is something else,\u201d Mansour said. \u201cThat\u2019s why they stood with us and opposed this policy of the Israeli government, and they are demanding a reversal of this decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
A UN Security Council meeting on the Palestinian issue is scheduled for Wednesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UNITED NATIONS : Pakistan, as chairman of Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and over 90 countries Monday signed a statement expressing \u201cdeep concern\u201d at Israel\u2019s punitive measures against the Palestinian people, leadership and civil society following a UN General Assembly\u2019s resolution calling on the world court to give an opinion on the legal consequences of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":308033,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-308024","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n