Arab League backs Palestinian plan to resubmit UN bid

Arab ministers voice support for Palestinian efforts to join international conventions and treaties, including the ICC.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Foreign ministers of the Arab League take part in an emergency meeting at the league's headquarters in Cairo September 7 (photo credit: REUTERS)
Foreign ministers of the Arab League take part in an emergency meeting at the league's headquarters in Cairo September 7
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The Arab League on Thursday authorized its members to seek international support for resubmitting to the UN Security Council the Palestinian resolution calling for establishing a timeline for an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines.
The decision was taken at the end of an emergency meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo.
The ministers also called for pursuing efforts to seek international support for the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative.
They voiced support for Palestinian efforts to join international conventions and treaties, including the International Criminal Court.
The Arab League reiterated its “absolute” opposition to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. This “racist” demand would have “grave consequences for the Palestinians and the region,” it said.
The Arab ministers also strongly condemned Israeli “attempts to divide the Aksa Mosque in time and place” so as to allow Jews to pray at the Temple Mount. They accused Israel of perpetrating a war crime by trying to Judaize Jerusalem and abolish its “historic, cultural and human identity.”
The ministers called on Arab countries to provide a monthly “financial security net” of $100 million to the Palestinians in light of Israel’s decision to withhold tax funds it collects for the Palestinian Authority.
Earlier, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said in a speech before the Arab League that the PA was unable to pay salaries to its employees because of the Israeli move.
Abbas noted that Congress was trying to suspend financial aid to the Palestinians. “This is unacceptable that America is trying to halt financial aid to the Palestinian Authority,” he said. “We will protest loudly against this.”
The Palestinians had notified the US of their intention to join the International Criminal Court, said Abbas. “Had America told Israel to stop settlements, we wouldn’t have gone,” he added. “We had to go to the court and we shouldn’t be punished because of that.”
He reiterated his threat to dissolve the PA.
Abbas urged Arab countries to fulfill their promise of a financial security net for the Palestinians – who plan to go back to the Security Council and want assurances from the Arabs that they would receive $100m. every month, he said.