Was it a truly Palestinian ‘win’ at the UN General Assembly?

Last week’s resolution at the UN General Assembly, at which member states overwhelmingly rejected Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, was conceived in anger and will be largely ineffective. But it was hardly unexpected.

Planned by the Palestinians and introduced by Turkey and Yemen, it was supported by many European countries, including US allies such as the UK. But the breakdown still had some surprises. The vote had 128 countries in favour and only nine against (Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Togo and the US). There were 35 abstentions, while 21 countries did not attend at all.

Before the vote, Israel’s delegation had distributed replicas of an ancient coin inscribed with the Hebrew words “Freedom of Zion”. The country’s representative, Danny Danon, held up the original coin dating from 67 CE, the year of the revolt against Rome, as evidence of Jewish longevity in Jerusalem. “No UN vote,” he said, “will ever drive us from Jerusalem.”

Speaking on behalf of the Arab Group, Yemeni representative Khaled Hussein Alyemany described the US action as a “blatant violation of the rights of the Palestinian people, as well as those of all Christians and Muslims”. He called it a threat to world peace and the two-state solution.