Biden administration abstained, but did not reject a General Assembly resolution affirming the right of return for
Palestinian refugees to sovereign Israel. In doing so, it broke with the voting pattern on Israel set
by former US President Donald Trump in which all such texts received an
automatic "no" vote.
Obama administration, however, had traditionally abstained
from this particular text, which comes annually before the UN General Assembly (UNGA).
"This year, the United States returns to a position of
abstention on the text 'Assistance to Palestine Refugees,'” American Deputy
Ambassador Richard Mills told the UNGA's Fourth Committee late Tuesday
afternoon.
He spoke as the committee gave initial approval to six
anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian draft resolutions that will come up later this
year at the UNGA plenum for a final vote.
Three of those texts affirmed the work of the UN Relief and
Works Agency (UNRWA), which services 5.7 million Palestinian refugees in Syria,
Lebanon, Jordan, Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
All three of those resolutions call for the right of return
for Palestinian refugees to sovereign Israel or for their receipt of
compensation for the property they lost when they fled their homes.
Out of the three, the resolution titled "assistance to
Palestinian refugees" is considered to be the most benign.
Canada similarly abstained on the text called assistance to
the Palestinian people, while Australia supported it. The US and Canada joined
Israel in rejecting the other two resolutions on UNRWA. Australia abstained on
one of those and rejected the other.
The European Union supported all three UNRWA
texts. Only Israel totally opposed the text "assistance to Palestinian
refugees" which passed 160-1, with nine abstentions.
The other countries that abstained on the "assistance
to Palestinian refugees" resolution were Cameron, Marshall Islands,
Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papa New Guinea and Uruguay.
The Trump administration had opposed UNRWA and cut US
funding to the organization. Both the Trump administration and Israel have
charged that textbooks used in the agency's schools are antisemitic and incite
against Israel.
They opposed the UNRWA policy of applying refugee status to
the descendants of Palestinians who fled their homes in 1948; a move which they
explain creates an ever-increasing population of refugees.
Prior to Tuesday's vote, an Israeli representative spoke out
against UNRWA at the UNGA Fourth Committee meeting.
"We cannot stand idly by when a UN humanitarian agency
promotes a political agenda under the guise of true assistance," the
Israel representative said.
"UNRWA must be accountable for the hateful
indoctrination of children in its classrooms. It must put an end to the
spreading of antisemitic lies by its employees and it must show a genuine
commitment to transparency and accountability," the Israeli representative
said.
She added that UNRWAA resources and infrastructure must not
be hijacked by Hamas in conducting acts of terror," she added.
Israel has also opposed the right of return for Palestinians
to sovereign Israel, a move which it argues would destroy the country's
identity as the ethnic-national homeland for the Jewish people. It has
explained that in the essence of a two-state resolution to the conflict,
Palestinians would have a right of return solely to a Palestinian State, much
like Jews would have a right of return solely to Israel.
The Biden administration, however, has restored US funding
and support for UNRWA.
"As many members know, under President Biden, the
United States announced it would restore its financial support to UNRWA, which
we do believe is a vital lifeline to millions of Palestinians across the
region," Mills told the UNGA.
"Since April, the US government has provided more than US$318
million to UNRWA in Fiscal Year 2021, including critical support for education,
health and social services benefiting millions of Palestinian refugees
registered with UNRWA," he said.
The US, he said, has noted that some changes were made to
the text of the resolutions on the agency "that reflect our priorities in
line with strengthening UNRWA," adding that "the United States
will continue to work with UNRWA; work to strengthen the Agency’s
accountability, its transparency, and its consistency with UN principles."
Mills called on UN member states to support the agency
financially, noting that many of those who voted in favor of the three UNRWA
resolutions were not willing to spend money on the organization.
"I would also like to take a moment to point out the
overwhelming support from member states for these resolutions voted here today,
compared with the relatively few member states that financially support
UNRWA," he said.
"In light of the Agency’s urgent shortfall, the United
States urges member states to support UNRWA’s services for Palestinian refugees
not only in word but in action – and to do so on an expedited basis,"
Mills said.
The resolutions were voted on in advance of a donor pledging
conference for UNRWA scheduled to take place in Belgium on November 16.
