Condemnation of US Peace Plan Dropped from Draft Palestinian Resolution

  • 2/9/2020
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A reworked Palestinian resolution has dropped its initial condemnation of President Donald Trumps Mideast peace plan, opting for less confrontational language ahead of a UN Security Council vote, a copy obtained by Agence France Presse shows. The latest draft also no longer mentions the United States by name as the plans author, and couches its criticism in milder language than in the original. The changes come as diplomatic pressure mounts ahead of Tuesdays Security Council vote, which Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to be on hand for. Jared Kushner, Trumps son-in-law and adviser, briefed the Security Council on the US plan on Thursday. The plan would put the Palestinian capital in a suburb of Jerusalem rather than East Jerusalem, and allow Israel to annex more than 130 Jewish settlements in the occupied territories as well as the Jordan Valley. It has been roundly rejected by the Palestinians, the Arab League and the Islamic Cooperation Organization. On Sunday, the African Union followed suit. The initial draft of the Palestinian resolution, which was presented by Tunisia and Indonesia last Tuesday, charged that the US plan "breaches international law and the internationally-endorsed terms of reference for the achievement of a just, comprehensive and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." The latest version says the US initiative "departs from the internationally-endorsed terms of reference and parameters for the achievement of a just, comprehensive and lasting solution to this conflict, as enshrined in the relevant United Nations resolutions." The draft no longer calls for an international conference on the Middle East "at the earliest possible date," instead replacing that language with a reminder that such a call was made in a 2008 UN resolution, AFP said. It also adds a line "condemning all acts of violence against civilians, including acts of terror, as well as all acts of provocation, incitement and destruction." Abbas is scheduled to hold a news conference in New York with former Israeli prime minister Ehud Ohlmert after the vote, according to a statement from the Palestinian mission to the UN.

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