World demands end to Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine, in landslide UN vote
geopoliticaleconomy.com
The vast majority of the world voted at the UN General Assembly to demand an end to Israel's unlawful occupation of Palestinian territory within 12 months, with 124 countries (64%) in favor, 14 (7%) against, and 43 (22%) abstentions.

The vast majority of the world voted at the UN General Assembly to demand an end to Israel’s unlawful occupation of Palestinian territory within 12 months, with 124 countries (64%) in favor, 14 (7%) against, and 43 (22%) abstentions.

The General Assembly resolution was based on a July ruling by the top UN legal authority, the International Court of Justice, which stated that “Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is unlawful” and that “Israel is under an obligation to bring to an end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as rapidly as possible”.

The countries that voted against the resolution, in effect supporting Israel’s illegal occupation, were the United States, Israel, Argentina, Czechia, Hungary, Malawi, Papa New Guinea, and Paraguay, plus the tiny Pacific island nations of Fiji, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Tonga, and Tuvalu.

These small island countries that consistently echo Washington’s unpopular votes in the UN are essentially unofficial US colonies, and mostly use the US dollar or Australian dollar as their currencies. Together, the six have a combined population of just over 1 million people, making them some of the smallest nations on Earth.

Among the large countries that abstained were India, Australia, Canada, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Ethiopia.

However, in a break with Washington, a few longtime US allies voted in support of the resolution, most notably Japan, as well as France, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain.

Several countries did not vote in the September 18 General Assembly session. These include a few nations that would without a doubt have supported the resolution, such as Venezuela, which lost its voting rights because it cannot pay UN membership fees due to illegal Western sanctions. The US and its European allies have stolen billions of dollars of Venezuelan foreign assets and reserves, and Washington has blocked Venezuela from using the US-controlled financial system.

The resolution was not controversial; it simply called for the implementation of a decision by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN’s top legal body.

On July 19, the ICJ issued a historic ruling stating:

– the State of Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is unlawful;

– the State of Israel is under an obligation to bring to an end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as rapidly as possible;

– the State of Israel is under an obligation to cease immediately all new settlement activities, and to evacuate all settlers from the Occupied Palestinian Territory;

– the State of Israel has the obligation to make reparation for the damage caused to all the natural or legal persons concerned in the Occupied Palestinian Territory;

– all States are under an obligation not to recognize as legal the situation arising from the unlawful presence of the State of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by the continued presence of the State of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Since war broke out in Gaza in October 2023, Washington has repeatedly vetoed Security Council resolutions that call for peace and a ceasefire.

US President Joe Biden has strongly supported Israel as it has brutally bombed civilians in Gaza, in what UN experts say is a campaign of genocide.

In a press conference in Tel Aviv in October, Biden asserted that “if Israel didn’t exist, we’d have to invent it”, given how strategic the colonial state is for US imperial interests.

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  • BearGun@ttrpg.network
    771·
    3 months ago

    Why the fuck did we (Sweden) abstain? What the fuck? Sometimes I hate my government man. This is such a fucking obvious vote.

    • Mad_Punda@feddit.org
      2·
      3 months ago

      Wondering the same. Is there a way to get an official statement? I wanna know what reasons they put forward.

    • superkret@feddit.org
      1020·
      3 months ago

      Because Sweden is officially neutral. As much as it sucks sometimes, neutrality means you don’t get to pick and choose which of other countries military acts you weigh in on.

      • BearGun@ttrpg.network
        28·
        3 months ago

        We used to be “neutral” (even though even then the argument was threadbare at best), but then we went and joined NATO. Can hardly call us neutral now. Even outside of that though, neutrality should not mean you can’t call out countries/organisations for doing horrendous shit like war crimes and genocide.

        We’ve publicly condemned Russia for the invasion of Ukraine (among other things) and i think China for something else (was it about Taiwan or Hong Kong or something? I don’t recall). There’s no real reason not to do the same with Israel outside of not wanting to anger the US.

    • themadcodger@kbin.earth
      401·
      3 months ago

      Seconded. But apparently us saying that one semitic group must stop a genocide against a different semitic group is… checks notes antisemitic.

    • ShinkanTrain@lemmy.mlEnglish
      18·
      3 months ago

      If the US wanted it to end, there wouldn’t need to be a vote. There would be a phone call and it would end.

      Unconditional support of genocide is one of those things everyone in Washington agrees on. It’s just good business

  • sik0fewl@lemmy.ca
    39·
    3 months ago

    Proud to be Canadian today knowing that we’re on the right side of history once again… by abstaining 🙄

    • porous_grey_matter@lemmy.ml
      144·
      3 months ago

      Ukraine may have a terrible, far right regime, but this vote doesn’t really say much about it, given that their survival currently depends on not pissing off the USA in any way. If their major military support was coming from a country that wanted it the other way around it would’ve been that way, there’s no principle behind it.

        • thetreesaysbark@sh.itjust.works
          62·
          3 months ago

          Can you counter point it rather than just saying ‘not thinking’? From these comments you’re coming off as the not thinking one.

          It makes sense that Ukraine would cosy up to USA if USA has something Ukraine needs, no?

        • porous_grey_matter@lemmy.ml
          62·
          3 months ago

          Nah it’s you that is not thinking. It is specifically the USA which is the problem. You can see that this map is, unusually, not “always the same map”, with many right wing neoliberal countries (France, Japan, New Zealand, …) voting for this. It’s not at all about the internal political alignment of the countries and just about who is a US proxy.

      • index@sh.itjust.works
        64·
        3 months ago

        If their major military support was coming from a country that wanted it the other way around it would’ve been that way, there’s no principle behind it.

        That’s the principle of being corrupted and in for nothing but power.

    • Geth@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      59·
      3 months ago

      Fuck off. Their interest lies with their own survival at the moment and that is strongly connected to a certain superpower voting no. Again, fuck off with that bullshit.

    • floofloof@lemmy.caEnglish
      41·
      3 months ago

      They’ll say some nice words about how Israel should be nicer, and then change nothing. And if the Conservatives get in they’ll abandon the nice words.

  • jaybone@lemmy.world
    261·
    3 months ago

    Do any of these UN votes actually mean anything? Like Israel can do what they want regardless right? There’s nothing to enforce this.

    • irreticent@lemmy.world
      24·
      3 months ago

      Do any of these UN votes actually mean anything?

      In terms of actual change, no, not really. But when most of the world condemns what you’re doing and you still continue it weakens their soft power. Countries are less likely to trade with them, less likely to help defend them if they’re invaded, etc. But, yeah, all this is is them saying “I’m mad at you for doing this and not stopping when we ask you to.”

      Like Israel can do what they want regardless right? There’s nothing to enforce this.

      This is true.

    • theherk@lemmy.world
      8·
      3 months ago

      It does mean something. It may not have enforcement teeth, as it is a strictly diplomatic body. However, it still illustrates the state of things and has an impact on international relations.

      • bestboyfriendintheworld@sh.itjust.works
        29·
        3 months ago

        I hope never BRICS is a joke club. India and China hate each others guts. China and Russia are only allies of convenience. South Africa and Brazil are trying to get more international clout. The economic and other cooperation between BRICS countries is less than between individual BRICS countries and western countries.

        • nednobbins@lemm.ee
          5·
          3 months ago

          Allies are only ever allies of convenience.

          The US was allied with both the USSR and China for the sake of convenience. Right after that war the US allied with its erstwhile enemies, Japan, Germany and Italy for the sake of convenience. The Marshal Islands maintain diplomatic relations with both China and the US for their own convenience.

          BRIC (South Africa joined later) was initially coined as a description of quickly emerging economies by a Goldman Sachs economist. Since then it’s become an actual trading block that coordinates on economic policy. It’s very obviously dominated by China but the other members see advantage in joining a club that’s not obviously dominated by the US.

          The combined GDP of BRICS nations now exceeds the combined GDP of the G20. If it’s a joke, it’s a pretty successful one.

      • kristina [she/her]@hexbear.netEnglish
        141·
        3 months ago

        i really love the countryside, theres still little pockets of communism but its all dying out as the old die off. we’ve been thoroughly colonized by the west and now with the ukrainian refugee situation czechia has been taking a very far right turn. libertarians used to be a weird wacko thing but now its one of the predominant types of male. sad. and they are even recruiting for azov in prague now, and it was interdicted by the communists

        https://www.kscm.cz/cs/aktualne/aktuality/zaznelo-hlasite-fasismus-tu-vitan-neni/

        • Ram_The_Manparts [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
          91·
          3 months ago

          Oh god yes the countryside, the highway we were driving was closed for work at this one point and we had to take a detour, so we went through these valleys with the cutest little villages and farms I’ve ever seen, and I fell madly in love. Really hope to go back there some day.