Palestinians invite UN Security Council to visit territories
US, Israel oppose move as tactic to divert attention from negotiations
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The 120-member Nonaligned Movement of mainly developing countries says it will ask the UN Security Council to respond favorably to a Palestinian request to visit the Palestinian territories.
Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Abdullah Hussain Haroon, whose country is a non-permanent council member, said the Nonaligned Movement decided at a meeting Wednesday to recommend the visit.
The Palestinians invited the Security Council to visit the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem in late February, but the invitation has languished. Israel called it an attempt to divert attention from getting back to direct negotiations to settle the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and diplomats said the United States was opposed.
Haroon said the Nonaligned Movement hopes to see broader understanding on the issue and its message is one of “peace and fact-finding.”