A resolution at the 43rd meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that is aimed at exacting penalties—including an arms embargo—against the Israeli state for its alleged human rights violations and settlement activity at disputed territories was passed by a small margin on Friday in Geneva.
The body approved the document through a 22-8 vote, with 17 states, including India, choosing to abstain from voting. Australia, Brazil, and Ukraine were among those who voted against the text.
The Resolution called for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, to prepare and present a report for the next year on how the Israeli administration can be forced to better comply with previous UN resolutions that have called it to halt its settlement activity and revert to pre-1967 lines. The Palestinian Authority’s (PA) attempted to shift the resolution discussion from the UNHRC Agenda Item 7 on Palestine and occupied Arab territories to Item 2, which usually introduces annual reports. The PA had reiterated the importance of Item 7, especially in light of Israel’s fast-moving plans to unilaterally annex disputed areas of the West Bank. However, its attempts to move the discussion further up the priority list on the agenda was unsuccessful as it failed to get traction among members. Israel traditionally boycotts and opposes Item 7 as being discriminatory towards it.
Responding the placement of accountability under Item 7, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Aviv Raz Schecter, told the Council that the Israeli government has been working in partnership with the Palestinian Authority to combat the coronavirus pandemic over the past few months but that the Palestinian representatives “choose to ignore the facts, [and] keep up with their narrative of the victim, as they have for the past 72 years”. She further charged the entire council for being biased, stating that Item 7 was designed only to condemn Israel, terming the very existence of the agenda item as “institutionalized antisemitism”.
See also: Israel’s Plans to Unilaterally Annex the West Bank Are a Major Threat to Regional Security
Palestine’s Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Ibrahim Khraishi, remarked that the International Criminal Court is simultaneously conducting an inquiry as to whether it has the jurisdiction to hear matters and suits about alleged war crimes by Israel against Palestinians. On states choosing to abstain from voting on the resolution, Kharishi remarked that those members are sending a message to the Israeli state for it to continue with its unilateral annexation project.
The Council is set to debate four more pro-Palestinian resolutions this week. With plans for annexation going on in full swing in Israel with support from the United States, the resolutions aim to affirm the sovereignty of Palestinian statehood, push for a two-state solution along pre-1967 lines, and hold Israel accountable for its illegal settlement activity. The resolution on self-determination also calls upon the international community to ensure their obligations on non-aid and non-recognition of the annexation.
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