LOC22:31
19:31 GMT
JEDDAH, Dec 31 (KUNA) -- The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) voiced on Wednesday its deep regret as the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) failed to approve an Arab draft resolution seeking a three-year timeframe to end Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.
In a press release the OIC regretted that some UNSC member countries voted against the draft resolution and others abstained.
The OIC Secretary-General Iyad Amin Madani said that the OIC is astounded by the reasoning of the objecting countries to the draft resolution that it "does not serve the goals of peace, and could undermine the peace process"; and by their call for open-ended negotiating process without a timeframe.
He noted that the countries that rejected the draft resolution forgot that Palestinians have sitten on the negotiations table for more than 20 years in which Israel expanded settlements that cover most of the West Bank.
He pointed that during these 20 years Israel continued Judaizing Jerusalem and changing its Arab, Muslim and Christian demographic and religious characters as well as completing the Apartheid Wall which nibbles large areas of Palestinian land and destroyed the Gaza Strip for many times due to its brutal wars.
Madani said that those who call for peace negotiations without a specific framework and scheduled timeframe, and ignore Israel's refusal to meet the requirements for the resumption of the peace process, are actually calling for more time for Israel to complete its colonial rule. This will also push the Palestinian issue into a dark tunnel and embody the failure of international community to provide alternatives to enable Palestine establish an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital, he said.
Madani reiterated OIC's support for Palestinian people to regain their legitimate rights by all the means legitimate for a people under occupation and under siege.
The UNSC rejected on Tuesday the draft resolution submitted by Jordan in an emergency meeting when Argentina, Chad, Chile, China, France, Jordan, Luxembourg and Russian Federation voted in favor of it, as Australia and the US voted against.
Lithuania, Nigeria, Republic of Korea, the UK and Rwanda abstained from voting. (end)
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