Jerusalem:
The Palestine Liberation Organization yesterday lauded the UN
condemnation of Israeli settlement building, but slammed the US
position on human rights “violations” by the Jewish state.
“On behalf of the Palestinian people and leadership, I would like
to express great appreciation and gratitude” to the UN’s Human
Rights Council", PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi said
in a statement.
“We appreciate your support and
value your courage to stand behind your convictions", he added.
The UNHRC presented a report to
diplomats this month which said Israel must immediately begin
withdrawing its settlers from the Palestinian territories.
The body also passed resolutions
slamming settlement building and alleged abuses against
Palestinians, all of which the US voted against.
“The United States once again
demonstrated a total disregard for Palestinian rights and the
requirements of peace,” Ashrawi said.
"It voted against justice, and for impunity, in the face of the
most egregious violations of international human rights and
humanitarian law... it voted against peace", he said.
The PLO’s comments came several days
after a visit by Barack Obama to Israel and the Palestinian
territories, his first as US president.
Israel must act to “immediately and
without preconditions cease the settlement activity and to
initiate a process of withdrawal from the settlements,” French
delegate Christine Chanet told the UNHRC on March 18, lamenting a
“rampant annexation” of Palestinian territories.
The UNHRC report, published at the
end of January, sparked angry reactions from Israel, which slammed
it and the Human Rights Council that commissioned it as “one-sided
and biased.”
All Israeli settlements on
Palestinian land beyond the so-called 1949 Green Line are
considered illegal under international law.
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