UN calls for conference to advance Palestinian state

The conference will take place in New York on June 2-4, with a preparatory meeting to be held in May.

By JNS

The United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution calling for a “High-level International Conference” to be held in June to push forward the establishment of a State of Palestine.

The conference will advance implementation of U.N. resolutions regarding “the question of Palestine,” reads the resolution, one of three passed on Tuesday concerning the two-state solution.

The conference will take place in New York on June 2-4, with a preparatory meeting to be held in May.

It will adopt an “outcome document” that will outline “an irreversible pathway towards the peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine and the implementation of the two-state solution.”

The resolution also calls for the convening of an international conference in Moscow, as envisioned by a 2008 Security Council resolution, to bring about the goal of two states as part of “a just, lasting and comprehensive peace settlement.”

The resolution characterizes Israel as an “occupying power” and demands it end its presence in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem, what it terms “Occupied Palestinian Territory,” as reflected in the July 19 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

The resolution also demanded that Israel cease all new “settlement” activities and evacuate all “settlers” from those areas.

The General Assembly resolution was passed with 157 votes in favor, eight against (Argentina, Hungary, Israel, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, United States) and seven abstentions (Cameroon, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Georgia, Paraguay, Ukraine, Uruguay).