UN Security Council to Decide on Jerusalem

The move comes less than two weeks following the U.S. government decision to relocate their embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem

A draft resolution rejecting the establishment of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem is expected to be voted on at the UN Security Council today. The move comes less than two weeks following the U.S. government decision to relocate their embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

A leaked copy of the text requests all UN member states to refrain from moving their diplomatic missions to Jerusalem, according to Al Jazeera. It went on to affirm “that any decisions and actions which purport to have altered, the character, status or demographic composition of the Holy City of Jerusalem have no legal effect, are null and void and must be rescinded in compliance with relevant resolutions of the Security Council.”

However, in an attempt to maintain neutrality, the draft resolution excludes pinpointing the United States, saying it “deeply regrets recent decisions regarding the status of Jerusalem.”

The move, intended to keep the United States from slamming its veto gavel at the Security Council, upset Palestinian diplomats who wanted the U.S. government named outright in the text, Al Jazeera reported.

After Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 war with Syria, Egypt and Jordan, it claimed the entirety of the city as being “united.” However, Palestinians have long proclaimed Al Quds, Jerusalem’s name in Arabic, to be their future state capital.

Hence, they forewarned the U.S. government that any attempt at relocating their embassy to Jerusalem, apart from inflaming sentiments throughout the Muslim world, Christian communities and elsewhere, would undermine their role as an honest peace broker.

The move will make the United States the only country in the world to have its embassy located in Jerusalem. 

The international community has galvanized in protest after U.S. President Donald Trump, going one step further than his predecessor and other former presidents who claimed Jerusalem to be Israel’s capital, announced plans to move the U.S. embassy to the city. Demonstrations have been held in Palestine, Lebanon, Indonesia, Colombia, France, the United States and elsewhere.