Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh today expressed surprise and disapproval of the election of Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations to the post of Vice President of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), and at the same time welcomed a decision by the Norwegian Federation of Trade Unions to boycott Israel considering it an apartheid state.
Speaking at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting in Ramallah, Shtayyeh said, “We were surprised by and deplore the election of Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations for the position of Vice President of the United Nations General Assembly, which we consider an attempt to promote and legitimize the colonial occupation regime on the land of the State of Palestine.”
The Prime Minister added that “it is not permissible and does not make sense to reward the occupying power for its violations of international and humanitarian laws, for its crimes, and whitewash its racist colonial face. It should not be encouraged to impunity, and it should not be complimented at the expense of Palestinian blood, Palestinian land and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.”
The UNGA elected the Israeli ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, to the post of vice-president of the General Assembly. Erdan, several months ago and from the UNGA podium, tore up a report of the UN Human Rights Council condemning Israel for violations against the Palestinians.
Shtayyeh also thanked the Norwegian Federation of Trade Unions for its decision to boycott the occupying power and consider it an apartheid state, welcoming at the same time Norway’s decision to label Israeli settlement products, which he described as “a historic and moral step,” calling on all countries to boycott settlement products as an obligation under international law.
The Prime Minister also welcomed the release of the first report by the new United Nations Human Rights Council’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.
“While we salute the Commission for its efforts, we are surprised by the positions of some countries that opposed the report and described it as biased. Such positions that opposed the report are considered completely biased towards the occupying power, in contradiction with human rights principles, and encouragement for the occupying power to persist in its violations and impunity.”
Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)