The Mission of the State of Palestine to the United Nations yesterday welcomed the statement released by Member States of the United Nations rejecting the punitive measures imposed by the Israeli government against the Palestinian people, leadership and civil society in response to the adoption by the General Assembly of a resolution requesting an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice, and calling for their immediate reversal.
Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, declared at this occasion that “any country that believes in multilateralism and is committed to the international-law based order cannot but oppose such punitive measures that target and affect the Palestinian people, leadership and civil society.”
He noted that the signatories included not only the representatives of the Arab group and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), as well as the sponsors of Palestine resolutions at the UN General Assembly and some of the countries that voted in favor of the resolution requesting the advisory opinion, but also a big number of countries that abstained and voted against the resolution.
“This is significant as it shows that regardless of how countries have voted, they are united in rejecting these punitive measures” concluded Mansour.
The State of Palestine also expressed appreciation for the Secretary General’s stance, expressed through his spokesperson, against retaliation in relation to the request to the International Court of Justice.
The statement of the UN Member States said the following:
“As Member States of the United Nations, we reconfirm our unwavering support for the International Court of Justice and international law as the cornerstone of our international order, as well as our commitment to multilateralism.
“In this regard, we express our deep concern regarding the Israeli government’s decision to impose punitive measures against the Palestinian people, leadership and civil society following the request by the General Assembly of an advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice. Regardless of each country’s position on the resolution, we reject punitive measures in response to a request for an advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice, and more broadly in response to a General Assembly resolution, and call for their immediate reversal.”
The Signatories to the statement included: Algeria, as Chair of the Arab summit, Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Cuba, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, as Chair of OIC, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
Source: Palestine News and Information Agency