Arab Parliament slams Israel’s bid for UNSC

CAIRO – 28 December 2017: Parliament’s Arab Affairs Committee head and Arab Parliament member, Saad El-Gammal, commended in a Thursday statement the plan set by the Arab Parliament to block Israel’s turn on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

On December 27, Palestinian officials urged Arab leaders to block Israel’s bid for a set on the UNSC, a bid that Gammal further condemned.

According to official Palestinian Authority-owned Wafa news agency, the Palestine committee in the Arab Parliament on Wednesday presented a draft proposal to block Israel’s 2019-2020 UNSC seat bid.

The draft proposal was submitted to the parliament’s general meeting on Thursday; the Palestine committee has been calling on the Arab Parliament’s head to follow up on Israeli violations against the Palestinian people with the UN Secretary General and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Gammal said the UNSC is assigned to keeping international peace and security, while Israel is among the most countries imposing a threat to the international security.

He also added that Israel described the United Nations as the “house of lies”; a head of a vote on a draft resolution calling the United States to withdraw its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, ““The attitude towards Israel of many countries, on all continents, outside the walls of the United Nations, is changing and will ultimately permeate into the U.N. - the house of lies.”

Gammal added that this movement should focus on requesting a full membership for Palestine in the UN.

Palestinians have protested daily in the occupied West Bank and in the Gaza Strip since Trump’s announcement; eight Palestinians have been killed by Israeli gunfire during the demonstrations and dozens wounded.