12-21-2017, 11:57 PM
*** 22-Dec-17 World View -- General Assembly Jerusalem vote: Low 'yes' count humiliates Palestinians
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** General Assembly Jerusalem vote: Low 'yes' count humiliates Palestinians
****
![[Image: g171221b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g171221b.jpg)
Turkey's president Erdogan at United Nations on Thursday
The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday voted 128-9 with 35
abstentions in favor of a resolution demanding that all states must
obey Security Council resolutions, and which supposedly therefore
makes the declaration by US President Donald Trump's decision to
recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel to be "null and void."
The resolution had been sponsored by Turkey and Yemen.
Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital changes nothing
on the ground, so the recognition was little more than symbolic.
Thursday's General Assembly resolution is non-binding, so it's
completely symbolic. And therefore the Palestinian victory was only
symbolic.
The mainstream media have been calling it "a stinging rebuke to Donald
Trump" or a "new repudiation of the Trump administration," or "proof
that the United States is isolated in the world" or a "major
humiliation for Trump, Israel and the United States."
The problem is that it was none of those things. It was actually a
humiliation for the United Nations and the Palestinians, because the
vote 128-9 was far lower than expected, and far lower than votes on
Jerusalem-related resolutions in the past:
In the case of the last two of these resolutions, they both occurred
during President Barack Obama's administration, and they were opposed
by Obama. So if Thursday's vote was a stinging defeat for Trump, then
previous votes must have been stinging defeats for Obama.
In view of these past votes, the Palestinians had hoped and expected
that Thursday's vote would be approved by at least 150 votes. The
result of 129 votes was a big humiliation.
The low vote count was undoubtedly the result of threats by the Trump
administration to cut foreign aid to countries that supported the
resolution. US ambassador Nikki Haley had said that the U.S. would be
"taking names" of those countries.
This threat prompted numerous furious responses prior to the vote.
The most furious was from Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan:
<QUOTE>"Mr. Trump, you cannot buy Turkey's democratic will
with your dollars. Our decision is clear.
I call on the whole world: Don't you dare sell your democratic
struggle and your will for petty dollars.
I hope and expect the US won't get the result it expects from
there (the UN) and the world will give a very good lesson to the
US."<END QUOTE>
In view of the actual vote, it was apparently the United States that
gave a very good lesson to the United Nations.
The question now is: What consequences will the United States have to
pay for this threat and this power play?
President Obama announced a "red line" saying that the US would strike
Syria's president Bashar al-Assad if he used chemical weapons. When
al-Assad crossed the line and used Sarin gas, Obama flip-flopped on
his threat, which was disastrous for American foreign policy.
Now it seems that President Trump set a "red line," and that many
nations crossed the red line on Thursday by voting in favor of the UN
resolution. So what's Trump going to do now? Much of that foreign
aid is in support of America's own security, and cutting it sharply
would be a danger to America. On the other hand, flip-flopping on the
red line commitment could be harmful for the administration's
credibility. Presumably we'll know the answer soon. United Nations
and NBC News and United Nations (30-Nov) and Al Jazeera
****
**** Palestinians in Jerusalem fail to get excited by UN vote
****
President Trump's declaration on December 6 of Jerusalem as the
capital of Israel has infuriated much of the aging leadership of the
Palestinians, including Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas,
Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the Organization of
Islamic Cooperation.
But as for Palestinians "on the street" in Jerusalem, it's generated
more cynicism than excitement.
The average Palestinian is around 20 years old. The Oslo Accords
agreement, signed in 1993, was supposed to resolve the
Palestinian-Israeli issue, but the average Palestinian knows that the
Oslo agreement accomplished nothing, and that nothing has changed,
except that their octogenarian leaders are still giving speeches and
doing nothing more to change things.
Palestinian leaders had hoped for several weeks of "days of rage" by
thousands of Palestinians in Jerusalem, as occurred in July, when the
thousands of Palestinians poured into Jerusalem streets after Israel
installed metal detectors outside the al-Aqsa Mosque / Temple Mount
compound, in order to deter terrorists. This was the worst violence
in Jerusalem for years, but no such violence occurred after Trump's
Jerusalem announced. There was brief violence, but it fizzled
quickly.
To the Palestinians in Jerusalem, Thursday's General Assembly angry
speeches by Erdogan and Abbas were nothing new. They'd heard the same
speeches dozens or hundreds of times before, and nothing changes.
One Palestinian activist said, "It's a pointless exercise. The
Palestinian Authority (PA) has to evaluate the whole diplomatic
process of going to the UN. The experience we've had is that for
decades now these resolutions have not changed anything." Asia Times and Al Jazeera
Related Articles
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Israel, Jerusalem, United Nations,
Yemen, Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, Oslo Accords,
Organization of Islamic Cooperation, OIC
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- General Assembly Jerusalem vote: Low 'yes' count humiliates Palestinians
- Palestinians in Jerusalem fail to get excited by UN vote
****
**** General Assembly Jerusalem vote: Low 'yes' count humiliates Palestinians
****
Turkey's president Erdogan at United Nations on Thursday
The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday voted 128-9 with 35
abstentions in favor of a resolution demanding that all states must
obey Security Council resolutions, and which supposedly therefore
makes the declaration by US President Donald Trump's decision to
recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel to be "null and void."
The resolution had been sponsored by Turkey and Yemen.
Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital changes nothing
on the ground, so the recognition was little more than symbolic.
Thursday's General Assembly resolution is non-binding, so it's
completely symbolic. And therefore the Palestinian victory was only
symbolic.
The mainstream media have been calling it "a stinging rebuke to Donald
Trump" or a "new repudiation of the Trump administration," or "proof
that the United States is isolated in the world" or a "major
humiliation for Trump, Israel and the United States."
The problem is that it was none of those things. It was actually a
humiliation for the United Nations and the Palestinians, because the
vote 128-9 was far lower than expected, and far lower than votes on
Jerusalem-related resolutions in the past:
- Last month, the General Assembly adopted a resolution
(GA/11982) declaring Israel’s Actions in East Jerusalem "Null and
Void." The vote was 151-6, with 9 abstentions.
- In November 2012, the General Assembly adopted a resolutioin
(67/19) upgrading the state of Palestine to a non-member observer
state status in the United Nations. The vote was 138-9, with 41
abstentions.
- In March 2012, the General Assembly adopted a resolution (66/225)
demanding that Israel cease the exploitation of natural resources in
Palestinian territories, and recognized the right of the Palestinian
people to claim restitution as a result of Israeli violation of their
rights. The vote was 167-7, with 6 abstentions.
In the case of the last two of these resolutions, they both occurred
during President Barack Obama's administration, and they were opposed
by Obama. So if Thursday's vote was a stinging defeat for Trump, then
previous votes must have been stinging defeats for Obama.
In view of these past votes, the Palestinians had hoped and expected
that Thursday's vote would be approved by at least 150 votes. The
result of 129 votes was a big humiliation.
The low vote count was undoubtedly the result of threats by the Trump
administration to cut foreign aid to countries that supported the
resolution. US ambassador Nikki Haley had said that the U.S. would be
"taking names" of those countries.
This threat prompted numerous furious responses prior to the vote.
The most furious was from Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan:
<QUOTE>"Mr. Trump, you cannot buy Turkey's democratic will
with your dollars. Our decision is clear.
I call on the whole world: Don't you dare sell your democratic
struggle and your will for petty dollars.
I hope and expect the US won't get the result it expects from
there (the UN) and the world will give a very good lesson to the
US."<END QUOTE>
In view of the actual vote, it was apparently the United States that
gave a very good lesson to the United Nations.
The question now is: What consequences will the United States have to
pay for this threat and this power play?
President Obama announced a "red line" saying that the US would strike
Syria's president Bashar al-Assad if he used chemical weapons. When
al-Assad crossed the line and used Sarin gas, Obama flip-flopped on
his threat, which was disastrous for American foreign policy.
Now it seems that President Trump set a "red line," and that many
nations crossed the red line on Thursday by voting in favor of the UN
resolution. So what's Trump going to do now? Much of that foreign
aid is in support of America's own security, and cutting it sharply
would be a danger to America. On the other hand, flip-flopping on the
red line commitment could be harmful for the administration's
credibility. Presumably we'll know the answer soon. United Nations
and NBC News and United Nations (30-Nov) and Al Jazeera
****
**** Palestinians in Jerusalem fail to get excited by UN vote
****
President Trump's declaration on December 6 of Jerusalem as the
capital of Israel has infuriated much of the aging leadership of the
Palestinians, including Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas,
Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the Organization of
Islamic Cooperation.
But as for Palestinians "on the street" in Jerusalem, it's generated
more cynicism than excitement.
The average Palestinian is around 20 years old. The Oslo Accords
agreement, signed in 1993, was supposed to resolve the
Palestinian-Israeli issue, but the average Palestinian knows that the
Oslo agreement accomplished nothing, and that nothing has changed,
except that their octogenarian leaders are still giving speeches and
doing nothing more to change things.
Palestinian leaders had hoped for several weeks of "days of rage" by
thousands of Palestinians in Jerusalem, as occurred in July, when the
thousands of Palestinians poured into Jerusalem streets after Israel
installed metal detectors outside the al-Aqsa Mosque / Temple Mount
compound, in order to deter terrorists. This was the worst violence
in Jerusalem for years, but no such violence occurred after Trump's
Jerusalem announced. There was brief violence, but it fizzled
quickly.
To the Palestinians in Jerusalem, Thursday's General Assembly angry
speeches by Erdogan and Abbas were nothing new. They'd heard the same
speeches dozens or hundreds of times before, and nothing changes.
One Palestinian activist said, "It's a pointless exercise. The
Palestinian Authority (PA) has to evaluate the whole diplomatic
process of going to the UN. The experience we've had is that for
decades now these resolutions have not changed anything." Asia Times and Al Jazeera
Related Articles
- Organization of Islamic Cooperation throws a temper tantrum over Jerusalem (14-Dec-2017)
- Protests fizzle 3 days after Trump's Jerusalem announcement was universally condemned (10-Dec-2017)
- Israel and Saudi Arabia prepare for war with Hezbollah, as Syria war winds down (02-Nov-2017)
- Palestinian 'day of rage' in Jerusalem results in six deaths, hundreds injured (22-Jul-2017)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Israel, Jerusalem, United Nations,
Yemen, Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, Oslo Accords,
Organization of Islamic Cooperation, OIC
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
