The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution Friday demanding Israel not deport or threaten the safety of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in a vote of 133:4 with 15 abstentions.
The resolution by Arab and non-aligned countries circumvented a United States veto of a similar resolution in the Security Council earlier this week.
The resolution was adopted at its 10th emergency special emergency session to consider illegal Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the occupied territories at the request of the League of Arab States.
It also called for "the complete cessation of all acts of violence, including all acts of terrorism, provocation, incitement and destruction," and expressed full support for the Road Map peace plan.
The Road Map put forward by the so-called diplomatic Quartet -- the UN, the European Union, the Russian Federation and the United States -- calls for parallel and reciprocal steps by Israel and the Palestinians leading to two states living side by side in peace by 2005.
The four negative votes came from Israel, Marshall Islands, Micronesia and the United States.
Nasser Al-Kidwa, Palestinian observer to the UN, said the situation in the Middle East had reached a new nadir with the Israeli government's decision to remove Yasser Arafat. The Israeli policy constituted an assault on the dignity of the Palestinian people and confirmed the intent of the Sharon government to attack and fragment the Palestinian leadership.
Elfatih Ahmed Erwa, Sudanese ambassador to the UN, speaking on behalf of the Arab Group, introduced the draft resolution. He said it was important for the General Assembly to adopt a decisive resolution that would force Israel to change its ways.
He criticized the United States for blindly supporting Israel and imposing its will on the world despite its role as an honest broker in the Middle East peace process.
Malaysian ambassador to the UN Rastam Mohd Isa, speaking on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, said that there had been a clear attempt in the Security Council to divert attention by labeling Arafat a terrorist and calling for his removal from the urgent issue at hand, namely Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian land and the humiliation of the Palestinian people.
As a result, the Assembly must show that the international community and the United Nations had not abandoned the Palestinian people through strong support for the draft resolution.
Russian ambassador to the UN Sergey Lavrov said that it was now more necessary than ever to stop all acts of terror when Palestinian-Israel relations were at a new low. He called on the Palestinian authority to do more to stop its citizens from engaging in terror. Meanwhile, he emphasized that Israel's plan to remove Arafat from power would be a grave mistake that would lead to serious problems.
He also urged the Security Council to apply greater pressure on all parties to implement the Road Map.
Chinese Permanent Representative to the UN Wang Guangya said Israel's decision to expel President Arafat would only serve to deepen the hatred between the two sides. He urged Israel to reconsider its decision and asked both sides to continue to engage in peace talks, as that would be the only way to end the three-year cycle of violence.
He also pledged China's efforts to play a constructive role in bringing long-term stability to the Middle East.
Marcello Patafora, Italian ambassador to the UN, speaking on behalf of the European Union and associated states, said that the Israeli decision to expel Arafat, leader of the Palestinian authority, was a serious mistake, adding to the tension and undermining any negotiated solution to the ongoing conflict.
He also condemned terrorist attacks against Israeli citizens in the strongest possible terms, saying the authors of those attacks were enemies of peace.
He reaffirmed the importance of re-launching the peace process with Israel within the framework of the Road Map.
Israeli UN envoy Dan Gillerman claimed that Arafat is an obstacle to peace and criticized the draft resolution for focusing criticism on the response to terrorism and not the terrorism itself, and for being "devoid of moral substance."
US ambassador to the UN John Negroponte said while the United States did not support the elimination or exile of Arafat, it opposed the resolutions considered during the past week for their imbalance and failure to condemn certain Palestinian militant groups.
The 10th emergency special session dates back to 1997 when Israel began construction of a new settlement south of East Jerusalem. The Security Council met twice on this issue, but failed to adopt resolutions. Using the "Uniting for Peace" formula, a special emergency session of the Assembly was convened in April and again in July and November of 1997. It also resumed in 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001.
(Xinhua News Agency September 20, 2003)
