United Nations resolution on Israeli settlement activity, 2011
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The Draft United Nations resolution on Israeli settlements placed before the
United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the Organs of the United Nations, six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international security, international peace and security, recommending the admi ...
proposed that all Israeli settlements established in the occupied Palestinian territories after
1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...
be condemned, and urged that
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and
Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
comply with their obligations under the
Road Map A road map, route map, or street map is a map that primarily displays roads and transport links rather than natural geographical information. It is a type of navigational map that commonly includes political boundaries and labels, making it a ...
plan in order to establish a
two-State solution The two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict envisions an independent State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel, west of the Jordan River. The boundary between the two states is still subject to dispute and negotiation ...
. The resolution failed to pass after the United States exercised its right to
veto A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto ...
on February 18, 2011. The other 14 members of the council voted in favour of the resolution.'United States vetoes Security Council resolution on Israeli settlements.'
UN News Center, 18 February 2011


Background

The peace process was revitalized in September 2010, with direct talks between Israel and Palestine, with the U.S. supporting the negotiations. With little headway made, the Palestinian National Authority decided to present a draft resolution to the Security Council, resisting strong pressure from both United States President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
and Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
. A month into the discussions a roadblock was hit when a 10-month settlement construction freeze was allowed to expire on September 26. On October 2, Mahmoud Abbas announced that peace negotiations will not continue until settlement construction is once again stopped.


UN Security Council vote

The resolution was sponsored by over 120 of the UN's 192 members states. The U.S. attempted several times to persuade Palestine to rescind the resolution or accept a non-binding resolution instead. Palestine refused and brought the resolution to the Security Council. The final vote was 14 for and the U.S., whose vote holds veto power, alone was against it. The United States, in voting against a resolution that would have condemned Israeli settlements as illegal, argued that while settlement activity violated international legality, the resolution, if passed, would only harden the positions of both sides, complicate stalled negotiations and hinter future talks. Over 120 U.N. member states supported the resolution. This was the first U.N. veto used by the Obama administration. A spokesman for Mahmoud Abbas commented that the US veto allowed Israel to escape its obligations. Israel's Foreign Ministry expressed its appreciation for the US position, and expressed regret that the other Security Council members had refrained from making the same contribution.


International response

* -Britain, France and Germany put out a joint statement in which they explained they had voted for the resolution "because our views on settlements, including east Jerusalem, are clear: they are illegal under international law, an obstacle to peace, and constitute a threat to a two-state solution. All settlement activity, including in east Jerusalem, should cease immediately." * - Ambassador
Susan E. Rice Susan Elizabeth Rice (born November 17, 1964) is an American diplomat, policy advisor, and public official serving as Director of the United States Domestic Policy Council since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Rice served as the 27th U.S ...
, explained her veto of the resolution as "this draft resolution risks hardening the positions of both sides. It could encourage the parties to stay out of negotiations", she made note that the U.S. did not support Israeli settlements but that " reject in the strongest terms the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity,...Continued settlement activity violates Israel's international commitments, devastates trust between the parties, and threatens the prospects for peace…" * -
Mahmoud Abbas Mahmoud Abbas ( ar, مَحْمُود عَبَّاس, Maḥmūd ʿAbbās; born 15 November 1935), also known by the kunya Abu Mazen ( ar, أَبُو مَازِن, links=no, ), is the president of the State of Palestine and the Palestinian Natio ...
, President of the
Palestinian National Authority The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine,
, stated "We only want to protect our interest and our rights as guaranteed in international law", he also stated that "We are not seeking to break from the U.S. administration and it is not in our interest to do that"
Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...
spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum, said that "The veto reveals the reality of the clear US support to what the Zionist enemy does against our people". Riyad Mansour, Palestine's permanent observer to the U.N., stated that "Our overarching goal remains to bring an end to the Israeli colonization and occupation of our land and its destruction of the two-State solution...We fear, however, that the message sent today may be one that only encourages further Israeli intransigence and impunity." * - Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...
's office replied to the veto that "Israel deeply appreciates the decision by President Obama to veto the Security Council Resolution"
Ibrahim Sarsur Sheikh Ibrahim Sarsur ( ar, ابراهيم صرصور, he, אִבְרָהִים צַרְצוּר; born 2 February 1959) is an Israeli Arab politician. A former leader of the United Arab List, he represented the party in the Knesset from 2006 to ...
, an Arab member of the Israeli Knesset responded that "Obama cannot be trusted. We knew his promises were lies. The time has come to spit in the face of the Americans."
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i ambassador to the U.N.,
Meron Reuben Meron Reuben (born 1961, Cape Town, South Africa) is an Israeli diplomat. In November 2020, Reuben was appointed Consul General to New England. Biography Meron Reuben was born in South Africa. He moved to London, United Kingdom with his mother b ...
, stated that "the resolution before you should never have been submitted,... Instead, the international community and the Security Council should have called upon the Palestinian leadership, in a clear and resolute voice, to immediately return to the negotiating table." * - The Egyptian Foreign Ministry commented that "The veto, which contradicts the American public stance rejecting settlement policy, will lead to more damage to the United States' credibility on the Arab side as a mediator in peace efforts," * - Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Minister ...
did not voice an opinion on the vote outcome, instead stating "The international community agrees on the urgent need for a negotiated settlement that will end the occupation that started in 1967 and establish an independent, democratic and viable Palestinian State living side by side in peace and security with Israel. We must do all we can to help the parties move forward." * - The organisation which represents 57nations responded by stating that "
he veto He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
is a devastating blow to the credibility of international efforts to resume the peace process" * Middle East
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
director
Sarah Leah Whitson Sarah Leah Whitson is an American lawyer and former director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch. Early life and education Whitson was reared by an Armenian American mother, Ashi Whitson, who was born in the Armeni ...
, released the statement, "President Obama wants to tell the Arab world in his speeches that he opposes settlements, but he won't let the Security Council tell Israel to stop them in a legally binding way," *
Tawfik Tirawi General Tawfik Mohammed Hussein al-Tirawi ( ar, توفيق الطيراوي) is a Fatah official who led the investigation into the death of former President Yasser Arafat. He served as the head of Palestinian Authority Intelligence in the West B ...
, a member of
Fatah Fatah ( ar, فتح '), formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, is a Palestinian nationalist social democratic political party and the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...
's Central Committee, called upon Palestinians to hold a 'day of rage' the following Friday to protest the American vetoing of the resolution. A protest is held outside the U.S. embassy in
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
, Israel, the day following the vote, with approximately 50 people attending it. One protester was reported to have stated the protest was part of "a new campaign pointing a finger at the US complicity in Israeli crimes." The following Sunday, approximately 3000 Palestinians gather in Ramallah to protest the veto.Saed Bannoura
'Thousands of Palestinians Protest U.S. Veto of Settlement Resolution,'
at Imemc, 21 Feb, 2011.


References

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External links


UN General Assembly RES/65/104 passed December 10, 2010
A similar resolution United Nations resolutions concerning Israel Israeli settlements 2011