what the World is thinking ?--------------------------UN affirms...

what the World is thinking ?
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UN affirms Palestinian land rights
From correspondents in the United Nations
May 07, 2004
OVER strong Israeli and United States objections, the United Nations General Assembly today approved a resolution affirming Palestinians' right to sovereignty over the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.

The resolution put the General Assembly on record as affirming "that the status of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, remains one of military occupation".

The text was changed during intense negotiations that succeeded in bringing European Union countries on board. The final vote was 140 to 6, with 11 abstentions.

The Palestinians pressed for the resolution following US President George W Bush's assurances to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon last month that Israel could retain some Jewish settlements on the West Bank and limit refugee returns in a final peace deal.

Calling the resolution "inappropriate and ill-timed", US deputy ambassador James Cunningham said it "will detract from and not enhance efforts for peace".

But Palestinian UN observer Nasser Al-Kidwa said the Sharon-Bush letters violated international law and represented "an attempt to confer legitimacy on some of Israel's illegal settlements" and negate the rights of Palestinian refugees.

"The issue is the land and the military occupation of that land for nearly 37 years," he said. "It is about Israel's refusal to end this occupation and refusal to adhere to international law."

Israel's UN Ambassador Dan Gillerman countered that the resolution "presumes to have the assembly, a political body, 'determine' the disputed legal status of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the legitimacy of conflicting claims, to the benefit of one party to the conflict, and outside the agreed negotiating process".

"It is time to tell the Palestinians - enough is enough! Stop the killings. Stop the terror. Do what you have to do to clean house, and stop abusing our time and the UN's limited resources that ignore the genuine suffering on both sides and instead promote initiatives of trivial pursuit."

The resolution - which is a reflection of international opinion but not legally binding - affirms in accordance with UN resolutions and principles of international law "that the Palestinian people have the right to self-determination and to sovereignty over their territory".

In the final text, language which had stated that Israel "has no sovereignty over any part of this territory" was dropped. It was replaced with language stating that Israel "has only the duties and obligations of an occupying power".

The resolution also expressed the assembly's "determination to contribute to the achievement of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and the attainment of a just and comprehensive negotiated peace settlement in the Middle East resulting in two viable, sovereign and independent states, Israel and Palestine, based on its pre-1967 borders".