Nazir Majally, Asharq Al-Awsat

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 4 December 2003 — The UN General Assembly adopted yesterday a series of resolutions criticizing Israel’s measures in Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, and to give support to the Palestinian people.

The body voted 155-8 to adopt a resolution on Jerusalem, declaring that Israeli actions to impose laws, jurisdiction and administration on the holy city are “illegal and therefore null and void and have no validity whatsoever.”

The United States, Israel, Palau, Uganda, Nauru, Costa Rica, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands voted against.

The resolution criticized governments that have set up diplomatic missions in Jerusalem and it called for international actions to guarantee freedom of religion and access by all people and nationalities to the holy city.

The resolution on “The Syrian Golan” was adopted with a 104-5 vote, with 61 abstentions, criticizing Israel for imposing its laws and jurisdiction as it occupies the region separating the two countries. The United States and Israel were among the countries who voted against it.

The 191-nation assembly also adopted four resolutions calling for the peaceful settlement of the “Question of Palestine,” and supporting programs to publicize Palestinian issues, work related to Palestinians at the UN headquarters and the committee on the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.

The resolution for the peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict called for Israel to withdraw from Palestinian territories, realize the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and settle the dispute on the return of Palestinian refugees.

Meanwhile, the co-authors of a symbolic agreement for Israeli-Palestinian peace yesterday defended the plan as a workable solution to “untouchable” issues that was intended to advance, not undermine, the stalled US-backed road map.

“This plan with all its detailed formulas represents the only solution,” said former Palestinian minister Yasser Abed Rabbo, who called the controversial plan a “pragmatic, possible solution” that balances Israeli and Palestinian interests.

Co-author Yossi Beilin, a leading Israeli dove, said: “We want to save the road map, not compete with the road map.”

US officials have not voiced support for the shadow plan out of deference to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, since opponents to Sharon negotiated the agreement from the Israeli side.

But despite Israel’s displeasure, President George W. Bush’s spokesman said yesterday Bush had no problem with Secretary of State Colin Powell meeting authors of the pact.

The Israeli Army said 17 members of the Islamic Jihad movement were detained in and around the northern West Bank town of Jenin, while Palestinian sources said six other people were picked up in nearby Qalqilya, including a local leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades.

In two other operations, the army said it had seized Palestinians preparing terrorist attacks, one group with small arms and the other with explosives.

The arrests came a day before scheduled talks in Cairo that aim to persuade groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad to call a halt to their attacks against Israel.

Also yesterday, Palestinians and Israeli peace activists clashed with police during a demonstration against construction of a Jewish neighborhood on the outskirts of East Jerusalem. Reports said Palestinians attempted to block with their bodies bulldozers at Jabal Mukatar village, to level ground for the new neighborhood.

— Additional input from agencies