While the Trump administration has been firm in its commitment to go through with the unilateral decision announced on Dec. 6 to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, the United Nations Security Council is due on Monday to vote on a resolution against the decision, pushing the U.S. president to take back the controversial recognition.
According to Israeli daily, Haaretz, the draft UN resolution “affirms that any decisions and actions which purport to have altered, the character, status or demographic composition of the Holy City of Jerusalem have no legal effect, are null and void and must be rescinded in compliance with relevant resolutions of the Security Council.”
It “calls upon all States to refrain from the establishment of diplomatic missions in the Holy City of Jerusalem, pursuant to resolution 478 (1980) of the Security Council.”
While the resolution has wide support in the UN, with most of the international community publicly rejecting the U.S.’s new position, the U.S. is expected to use its veto power in the Security Council to reject the vote.
In response to the U.S.’s anticipated veto, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), plans to try and get the resolution taken to the General Assembly, in an attempt to bypass the U.S. veto through the “Uniting for Peace” mechanism in the UN, which was created to deal with stalemates in the Security Council.
The OIC met last week to discuss the plan at the request of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, where the 57 member states announced that the OIC would recognize East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine.
In addition, Erdogan on Sunday expressed wishes to move the Turkish embassy to East Jerusalem, however that move is unlikely given Israel’s occupation of the city.
Meanwhile, at least ten Palestinians have been killed in the eleven days since a wave of upheaval in the occupied Palestinian territory was sparked by Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel on Dec. 6.
The decision has resulted in daily clashes, renewed Hamas rocket fire, Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip and a sharp increase in the number of Palestinians arrested, which has reached above 300 people so far.
The violence does not seem to calming anytime soon, as Vice President Mike Pence’s scheduled trip to Israel this week has been loudly rejected by Palestinians. Palestinian officials have stated that Pence and other U.S. officials will not be welcomed in Palestinian territory until Trump rescinds the Jerusalem decision.
Mass protests are expected to intensify during Pence’s visit.
So far, Friday December 15th saw the height of violence, with four Palestinians — two from the Gaza Strip and two from the occupied West Bank — were killed over the course of the day. The day had been dubbed a “Day of Rage” by Palestinians, who took to the streets in mass protests across the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza.
The four killed on Friday were identified by the Palestinian Ministry of Health as Mohammad Amin Aqel, 19, from Beit Ola, in Hebron, Bassel Mustafa Ibrahim, 29, from Anata village, northeast of Jerusalem, Yasser Sokkar, 23, from Sheja’eyya, east of Gaza city and Ibrahim Abu Thuraya, 29, from al-Boreij refugee camp in central Gaza.
Mustafa al-Sultan, 29 and Hussein Nasrallah, 25, were killed on Dec. 12 when an Israeli army drone fired a missile at a motorcycle in Beit Lahia, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. Several bystanders were injured in the airstrike and rushed to the hospital. Their conditions are currently unknown.
On Dec. 9, Mohammad al-Safadi, 25, and Mahmoud Mohammad al-‘Atal, 29, were killed in an Israeli missile strike targeting “Hamas targets” in southern Gaza. Their bodies were recovered by Palestinian rescue forces from the rubble of one of the strikes, which Israel’s military reported were retaliation strikes against Hamas missiles struck toward Israel the day previously. No injuries or deaths were reported in the Hamas strikes.
Maher Atallah, 54, and Mahmoud al-Masri, 30 were shot and killed by Israeli forces during a protest on Gaza’s border on Dec. 8. Several others were injured by Israeli forces during the protest.
At least 3,000 others have been injured in clashes and night raids.
10 Palestinians killed, 3000 injured. John Bolton ex UN Ambassador said there was not much violence [against Israelis he means, in his opinion the only people who matter] “Trump’s predecessors were intimidated by the prospect that moving the embassy would spark violent Arab protests, Bolton said.
“There has been some violence, it’s true,” he said, “but basically the threat of violence didn’t materialize.” https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/12/17/bolton-u-s-might-have-attack-north-korea/959331001/?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=usatodaycomnation-topstories
John Bolton who NK’s Kim Jong-un described as ‘human scum’ I have to agree with Kim.