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Source: https://usun.state.gov/remarks/8221
UN Gives a Pass to Palestinian Leaders Who "Rejected One Peace Proposal after Another"
(U.S. Mission to the UN) Amb. Nikki Haley - Prior to the UN Security Council vote on the Jerusalem resolution on Monday, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said: "This week marks the one-year anniversary of the passage of Resolution 2334. On that day, in this Council, in December 2016, the United States elected to abstain, allowing the measure to pass....Given the chance to vote again on Resolution 2334, I can say with complete confidence that the United States would vote "no."...It was Resolution 2334 itself that was an impediment to peace." "This Security Council put the negotiations between Israelis and the Palestinians further out of reach by injecting itself, yet again, in between the two parties to the conflict. By misplacing the blame for the failure of peace efforts squarely on the Israeli settlements, the resolution gave a pass to Palestinian leaders who for many years rejected one peace proposal after another. It also gave them encouragement to avoid negotiations in the future....And the Council passed judgment on issues that must be decided in direct negotiations between the parties." "Talking in New York cannot take the place of face-to-face negotiations between the regional parties. It only sets back the cause of peace, not advance it. As if to make this very point, Resolution 2334 demanded a halt to all Israeli settlement activity in east Jerusalem - even in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. This is something that no responsible person or country would ever expect Israel would do." "To the United Nations' shame, this has been a disproportionately hostile place for the Middle East's most enduring democracy. The United States refuses to accept the double standard that says we are not impartial when we stand by the will of the American people by moving our U.S. embassy, but somehow the United Nations is a neutral party when it consistently singles out Israel for condemnation."