The status of Al-Quds : A victory with a bitter-sweet taste

It has been done. Member States voted on Thursday, 21st of December, for a UN resolution demanding all countries to reject the latest decision of the U.S. administration regarding the status of Jerusalem. Accordingly, the resolution was backed by 128 nations at the General Assembly in New York while it was rejected by 9 others including the United States with 35 abstentions.

This victory came as members of the Security Council failed to pass a similar text on Monday after the U.S used a veto. Threatening on Wednesday to «take names» of countries intending to vote in favor of the UN resolutions, Nikki Haley, the United States ambassador to the United Nations commented on the vote tweeting : «65 countries refused to condemn the United States and 128 voted against us».

RT @USUN: “America will put our embassy in #Jerusalem...No vote in the United Nations will make any difference on that. But this vote will make a difference on how Americans look at the @UN, and on how we look at countries who disrespect us in the UN.” pic.twitter.com/UBLFXVyouY

— Nikki Haley (@nikkihaley) 21 décembre 2017

The diplomat later wrote arguing that «America will put our embassy in Jerusalem...No vote in the United Nations will make any difference on that. But this vote will make a difference on how Americans look at the @UN, and on how we look at countries who disrespect us in the UN». Meanwhile, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister posted a video thanking President Donald Trump and Haley insisting that «Israel completely rejects this preposterous resolution. Jerusalem is our capital — always was, always will be», reports Times of Israel.

Trump's threats

It turns out that the threats of the United States ambassador to the United Nations, the letter sent to all the members of the organization, her message on Twitter, and the statements of Donald Trump have significantly influenced the results of the vote. «Let them vote against us … We’ll save a lot. We don’t care. But this isn’t like it used to be where they could vote against you and then you pay them hundreds of millions of dollars»,  said the U.S. President at the House white.

Indeed, each party is rejoicing over its victory. The nations close to Palestine can be happy by the 128 votes they have managed to generate and at the same time the Israelis can be happy by the 35 abstentions. According to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, «a growing number of countries refuse to participate in this theater of the absurd».

For the record, Morocco is one of the countries that backed the UN resolution condemning Trump’s decision. King Mohammed VI is also the chairman of the Al-Quds committee and the kingdom is the main country that backs Bayt Mal Al Qods, headquartered in Rabat.