Jerusalem vote a clear affirmation of world's commitment to international law

KUALA LUMPUR:The overwhelming rejection of United States President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Thursday was a clear affirmation of the world's commitment to international law, said social activist Dr Chandra Muzaffar.
The International Movement for a Just World (JUST) president noted that Jerusalem was placed under that law in 1947 when historic Palestine was unfairly partitioned.
He maintained that seizing or annexing any part of that city and then proclaiming it as the capital of one of the disputants was illegal.
"Surely the US which sees itself as the world's 'greatest democracy' understands this. So should Israel be seen as West Asia's 'only democracy'?" he said in a statement.
Thursday's UNGA emergency session witnessed 128 countries voting in favour of the UN's call for the US to withdraw its decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital, declaring the decision as "null and void".
Chandra said one could hope that the UN vote would compel Washington DC to rescind its decision over Jerusalem.
But he cautioned that given Trump's track record on matters such as the Climate Change Accord and Unesco, it was very unlikely. Trump had previously announced that the US would quit the Paris climate accord and withdraw from Unesco, the UN agency which focuses on education, science and culture.
"The most we can expect him to do is to delay a little the proposed transfer of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem," he said.
Nonetheless, Chandra said the Jerusalem vote was a victory of sorts for global justice.
He noted that if UNGA had not been able to emerge as the principled voice of global justice on a much more extensive scale, it was partly because of various impediments – the most formidable of which was the US-Israel link.
According to him, various developments in West Asia, however, showed that the US-Israel link had not been able to achieve one of its primary goals, namely enhancing the 'security' of Israel.
"The defeat of this diabolical link in the UN General Assembly on Dec 21 merely underlines this fact. It should embolden all of us to accelerate our struggle for a just world," Chandra said. – Bernama