The recent passing of an anti-settlements resolution in the United Nations “stands in sharp contrast to the condemnation and accusations that have dominated subsequent commentary from Israel and that country’s supporters,” New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCullay says in an op-ed in a major New Zealand daily newspaper.
New Zealand is one of the four sponsors of UN Security Council Resolution 2334 — which calls for a halt of development of Israeli settlements and calls for the reestablishing of the pre-1967 war borders — along with Venezuela, Malaysia and Senegal.
New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully addresses the Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East on December 16, 2016. (UN/Manuel Elias)
The resolution passed late last month by a vote of 14-0 with one abstention, the United States,
In an op-ed published on Thursday in the New Zealand Herald, McCullay writes: “At the heart of this whole debate is whether we will see a future in which two states, Israel and Palestine, live side by side in peace and security.”
“This two-state solution has been the accepted basis for resolving the Palestinian question for many decades now, enshrined in various negotiated accords and UN Security Council resolutions, and the focus for several unsuccessful attempts to broker final agreement between the parties,” he writes.
— JTA
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From the Liveblog of
Thursday, January 12, 2017
