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On Thursday, General Assembly members will meet in a rare emergency special session (ESS) in the wake of America’s veto of a SC resolution opposing Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
A draft resolution is expected to be adopted overwhelmingly – America, Israel, and perhaps a few US dominated Pacific island states alone voting against it.
Security Council resolutions alone (with 15 members, 5 permanent, 10 rotating) are binding, not GA ones, the body comprised of all UN members states, so resolutions adopted represent the majority view of all nations, making them significant statements carrying political weight.
GA Resolution 377, Uniting for Peace (1950) states in cases where Security Council members fail to act as required to maintain international peace and security, the General Assembly shall consider the matter immediately, and may issue recommendations it deems necessary.
The GA may meet in emergency special session if it’s not convened at the time. SC veto power can’t block it. ESS resolutions can be adopted without consent of any or all of the five permanent SC members.
These sessions have been convened 10 times since the UN was established, mostly recently in 1997.
The 10th ESS was adjourned and resumed numerous times since 2000. They differ from special sessions, able to be called within 15 days of a request received by the secretary-general.
America initiated the Uniting for Peace Resolution in October 1950 to circumvent Soviet Russia vetoes during US aggression on North Korea, begun in June that year when the USSR was boycotting the Security Council (from January to August that year), unable to use its veto power in absentia.
GA Res. 377 was adopted by a 52 – 5 majority – “no” votes from Soviet Russia and four other Eastern bloc countries.
On December 19, neocon US UN envoy Nikki Haley outrageously warned its member states, saying:
Trump “will be watching this vote carefully and has requested I report back on those countries who voted against us.”
“We will take note of each and every vote on this issue.”
Separately, she tweeted:
“The US will be taking names” during Thursday’s vote.
Turkey and Yemen requested the ESS on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
The draft resolution mirrors the Security Council one Washington vetoed – reaffirming the illegality of actions “alter(ing) the character, status or demographic composition of the Holy City of Jerusalem” – by Trump’s recognition of the city as Israel’s capital.
Palestinian ambassador Riyad Mansour said he expected “overwhelming support” for the measure, adding:
“The General Assembly will say, without the fear of the veto, that the international community is refusing to accept the unilateral position of the United States.”
In the wake of Washington’s SC veto, igniting a firestorm in Occupied Palestine, Mike Pence postponed his December 19 visit to Israel until mid-January.
He’s persona non grata in the Occupied Territories, America no longer recognized by Palestinian leadership as an honest peace broker.
It never was before and isn’t now, one-sidedly supporting Israel, partnering in its high crimes.
Stephen Lendman is a Research Associate of the CRG, Correspondent of Global Research based in Chicago.
VISIT MY NEW WEB SITE: stephenlendman.org (Home – Stephen Lendman). Contact at [email protected].
My newest book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”
