Samoa Does Not Support U.N. Resolution To Probe Israel
The United Nations General Assembly Hall in New York City, New York, United States of America.
Photo: U.N.
Samoa has changed its vote on a United Nations General Assembly (U.N.G.A.) resolution that calls for an investigation of Israel and does not support a probe by the International Court of Justice (I.C.J.).
The resolution no longer has an absolute majority after U.N. member states changed their stance from a preliminary vote in November to oppose the resolution, the Jewish News Syndicate reports.
Samoa initially held a different stance on the resolution but switched its vote on the last Friday of December 2022.
Samoa and 20 other nations including Fiji, Vanuatu and Kiribati were commended by the U.S.-based Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organisations for “switching their votes and refusing to support this heinous resolution.”
This is according to a 4 January, 2023 statement from the Conference, a Jewish forum that is “at the vanguard of engaging America’s leaders and the public to advance the U.S.-Israel special relationship, bolster Israel’s security and prosperity and promote prospects for true and lasting peace in the Middle East,” its website explains.
The Conference condemns what they say is the “latest disgraceful” resolution and “abuse of the I.C.J.”
The resolution “follows a pattern of distorted attacks by the body that unfairly singles out the world’s only Jewish state,” the statement continues.
Israel, the Conference said, is “solely fulfilling its obligation of protecting its civilian populations through defensive military action, in accordance with international law.”
“Israel’s civilian population continues to face an unprecedented threat in the form of regular rocket attacks by Hamas and other terrorist groups. No other member state in the history of the U.N. has faced this level of incendiary scrutiny for exercising the right to defend itself from existential threats,” the Conference said.
“These biased inquiries have been further amplified – and revealed for the farce that they are – by virulent antisemitic outbursts of U.N. members in key leadership positions. We unequivocally condemn this attack and others like it and urge the I.C.J. to reject this overstep by the U.N. body.”
The U.N.G.A. is the main policy-making organ of the U.N.
Each of the 193 Member States of the United Nations has an equal vote, the official U.N. website states.
The I.C.J. is the principal judicial organ of the U.N. It was established in June 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations and began work in April 1946.
The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands). Of the six principal organs of the U.N., it is the only one not located in New York in the United States of America.
The Court’s role is to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by authorized U.N. organs and specialized agencies.
The Court is composed of 15 judges, who are elected for terms of office of nine years by the U.N.G.A. and the Security Council.
The resolution calls on the I.C.J. to “render urgently an advisory opinion” on Israel’s “prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of Palestinian territory,” the Jewish News Syndicate reports.
Passed by an 87-26 margin with 53 abstentions, the resolution also calls for an investigation into Israeli maneuvers “aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem,” accusing Israel of adopting “discriminatory legislation and measures,” according to the Jewish News.
Questions sent via email to Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa about Samoa’s vote on the resolution did not receive a reply.
Fatumanava-o-Upolu III Dr. Pa'olelei Luteru is Samoa's Permanent Representative to the U.N.