Ambassador Majed Abdel Fattah praises the Arab position that helped reach the UN resolution to cease fire in Gaza
The Permanent Representative of the League of Arab States to the United Nations, Ambassador Maged Abdel Fattah, praised the unified position of the Arab countries under the umbrella of the League of Arab States, which helped reach Security Council Resolution 2728 to cease fire on Gaza, and persuade the ten elected countries to submit a draft resolution. In favor of the Palestinian cause, what is considered a major achievement for the Arab countries in the issue of the Palestinian crisis.
Ambassador Majed Abdel Fattah said – during a telephone interview on the “Al Jazeera Mubasher” channel: – Every Arab country is responsible for its decisions, and the Arab League is an assembly of the decisions of sovereign Arab countries. If the Arab countries have the desire to carry out any other collective action that we can do in the United Nations, we are ready and present, saying, “But dealing with these issues is done.” Through ministerial meetings, and we had a ministerial meeting in March and clear and specific assignments from ambassadors and ministers to ambassadors in New York to act and strive to achieve certain goals.”
He added that Security Council Resolution 2728 to stop Opening fire on Gaza is binding under the provisions of Article 25 of the United Nations Charter. Pointing out that the decision is not covered by executive measures and is not covered by Chapter Seven or punitive measures, as the decision falls at the stage of Chapter Six, which is the settlement of disputes by peaceful means.
He explained that the American response that the resolution is non-binding, does not concern us in anything, and does not change the reality of international law, which international courts rely on in adjudicating disputes that occur between countries on these issues, stressing that The resolution addresses Israel directly regarding the ceasefire, and if it does not comply, there will be a submission to the Security Council again to request additional measures to ensure implementation.
He pointed out that the resolution confirms that the Security Council is fulfilling its responsibilities for maintaining international peace and security, and that it has succeeded. After almost 6 months of Israeli military operations in Gaza, we are putting pressure on the United States of America to allow the issuance of such a resolution, adding that for the first time the United States of America has agreed to a resolution that allows a ceasefire, especially since it has always talked about humanitarian truces since the outbreak of the conflict.
He noted that the world has seen the statements issued by the Israeli side and the American positions that are trying to push towards the idea that this decision is not binding on implementation, indicating that this is in line with the idea of defending Israel’s interests in the foreign negotiations taking place in Doha, which are fraught with Doubts about reaching agreements in the near term.
He explained that a change in the American position is a positive sign, but the question that currently arises is: “Will Israel actually stop firing on Gaza in response to this decision?”
He attributed the United States’ acceptance of abstaining from that decision to several reasons, including: that the decision has an Islamic dimension, and that the United States does not want to lose the entire Islamic world at that stage, in addition to the worsening of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza to an unfair degree, Which negatively affects the image of the United States internationally, despite its constant rants that it will provide aid, pointing out that this aid and statements have a hidden intention and have plans that are drawn up in coordination with Israel.
Regarding the possibilities of reaching agreements in Doha… he said: There are features of reaching a deal outside the Security Council, adding that the primary American goal is that the United Nations does not issue any resolution binding Israel to anything, and that Israel remains the master of its decision-making outside the United Nations, and when an agreement occurs, America summons it to the United Nations to document or welcome, stressing " We must understand the equation, and understand dealing with the draft resolution as part of a larger equation.”
Ambassador Majed Abdel Fattah, head of the Arab League mission to the United Nations, said: The multilateral international system and the collective security system on which the United Nations operates is going through a serious crisis as a result of the existing and recent geopolitical differences between the West and the East. As the West wants to expand eastward and place nuclear weapons on Russia’s doorstep, and in return the East defends with all its might and using Russian-Chinese economic power, and thus this creates a state of paralysis in the Security Council, indicating that Russian-American stubbornness has reached its maximum extent within the Security Council.
Ambassador Majed Abdel Fattah added – during a phone call on Al Jazeera Mubasher: – That Ukraine was forced to hold an extraordinary special session in the United Nations General Assembly at the tenth session; Because of its failure to issue any Security Council resolution regarding its crisis… Palestine also resorted to the General Assembly in the eleventh session; Because of its failure to extract any resolution from the Security Council. He pointed out that preparations are currently underway for a very large negotiation process called the “Future Summit,” which will be held on September 20 or 21, 2024, and it is assumed that it will take a decision to fix matters in the multilateral international system and restore the ability to resolve disputes for collective security in the United Nations. He pointed out that some African countries have asked United Nations missions to leave their territories, such as: Mali, Congo, and Burkina Faso, which is a very dangerous phenomenon. As the United Nations has become viewed as a “helpless” organization.
He said that the United Nations is headed in the same direction as the League of Nations, which is a miserable failure that may lead to the demise of the organization and the emergence of a new organization. As large regional alliances and blocs have emerged, but everyone adheres to the existence of the United Nations and is trying to reform it so that it can return to exercising its powers, especially in major issues such as the Palestinian issue, which has been an issue of occupation for 75 years, stressing the necessity of having representatives of the international community to stop countries that violate its decisions and intend to The superpower.
If Israel refuses to implement the Security Council resolution, he said that in the next stage, the request to impose certain sanctions through the General Assembly will be moved, explaining, “We know that the request to impose sanctions under Chapter Seven in the Council Security will be met with an American veto, and therefore we invest in the decisions issued by European courts, whether in the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, or Portugal…or even the decisions of labor organizations in India that prohibited shipping workers from loading weapons destined for Israel.” He added that countries will be asked to prevent arms exports to Israel and impose sanctions on the settlers – the United States imposed weak sanctions on 4 settlers – and asked to impose sanctions on every Israeli settler, preventing him from granting visas and his passage through countries, and boycotting products coming from the settlements.He indicated that he would not surrender to the status quo nor to the Israeli rejection in any form, adding that the General Assembly would be resorted to in this matter; Because in the Security Council there is a dead end, as long as the United States stands behind Israel until the end.
He pointed out that if an agreement is reached outside the United Nations, this will lead to a ceasefire, referring to what the American ambassador said at the session " “Our prisoners must return.” You talk about them as if they were American prisoners, stressing that this is a message directed to the American and Israeli voters.
He noted that we should not exclude other considerations, such as the electoral factor that US President Joe Biden is going through, And the desire of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to remain in power and not to end his career in prison.
