The United Nations General Assembly adopted, by 152 votes to 3, a resolution rejecting US measures aimed at preventing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the accompanying delegation from attending the session, ahead of the 81st Session to be held next week.
The resolution provides for Abbas, whom the US denied a visa, to address next week’s session by video.
In a written statement, Palestinian official Fattouh said the vote showed that efforts to isolate Palestine internationally and restrict its presence at the United Nations had been rejected.
Fattouh called on the US administration to reverse its decision and allow Abbas and the Palestinian delegation to attend the General Assembly’s annual session. He said that efforts to exert pressure and exclude Palestine could not halt its presence on the international stage.
Fattouh said Palestine would continue to defend the Palestinian people’s national rights, foremost among them the rights to freedom, independence, self-determination and the establishment of an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital. He said the US administration’s decision contradicted the UN Charter and international obligations.
Fattouh also argued that the international community no longer accepted double standards or the use of political influence to shield the occupation from accountability.
Fattouh said the conviction was growing that occupation, annexation, settlement activity, forced displacement and racism could not form the basis of peace, adding that these practices could not replace the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.
