New UN resolution endorses Palestinian right of return

Palestine

Published: 2021-12-17 09:45

Last Updated: 2024-03-28 15:02


New UN resolution endorses Palestinian right of return
New UN resolution endorses Palestinian right of return

The United Nations General Assembly in New York voted by majority on a resolution endorsing the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination Thursday. 

The mission of the State of Palestine to the United Nations said in a statement Thursday evening that the resolution was adopted by a majority of 168 countries that voted in favor of the resolution. Five countries opposed it: the Israeli Occupation, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, the United States, and Palau. Ten countries abstained from voting. 

The mission that "the resolution reaffirms the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, including the right to have their independent state of Palestine, and urges all countries, specialized agencies and organizations of the United Nations system to continue to support and assist the Palestinian people to achieve their right to self-determination as soon as possible." 

It added that "the resolution also stresses the urgent need to end the Israeli occupation that began in 1967, and to achieve a just, lasting and comprehensive peace settlement between the Palestinian and Israeli sides, based on the relevant United Nations resolutions, the Madrid references, the Arab Peace Initiative, and the Arab Peace Plan." 

The Permanent Representative of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, Ambassador Riyad Mansour, thanked the countries that voted in favor of the resolution, praising the overwhelming support for it, and considering that voting in favor of the resolution "is the only option for all countries committed to international legitimacy."

He stressed that "many countries' support for the Palestinian people's right to self-determination reflects their experience and struggle against colonialism, and as these countries achieved their freedom and independence, Palestine will not be an exception and will take its natural place among nations as an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Mansour said that this vote indicates almost unanimity in support of the right of self-determination for the Palestinian people, as it was in previous years, which confirms that the international community strongly supports the rights of the Palestinian people in all its aspects, despite the failed efforts by the Israeli Occupation to bring about a change in this principled international position.