Arab Summit slams US for recognizing Israeli sovereignty over Golan Heights
Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - At the 30th session of the Arab Summit on Sunday in Tunis, Arab leaders adopted a strong resolution rejecting the decision of the American President, Donald Trump, to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
This Syrian territory was occupied by Israel during the 1967 war and annexed by the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) in 1981. The United Nations has never recognised the measures taken by the Zionist entity.
In this document, Arab heads of State and Government consider the US administration's decision as "unlawful in form and content" and represents "a serious violation of the United Nations Charter which does not authorize the appropriation of the territories of others by force, as well as the UN resolutions adopted unanimously, including resolutions 242 of the year 1967 and 497 of the year 1981, which unequivocally stipulate the non-recognition of the occupation and annexation by Israel of Syrian Golan".
The leaders instructed their foreign affairs ministers to work by all political, diplomatic and legal means to deal with the American decision and intensify bilateral contacts and multilateral agreements with the international community.
They called on the Arab representative at the UN Security Council, Kuwait, to submit a draft resolution in this regard.
They also suggested recourse to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to get its opinion on the illegality and nullity of the American decision.
They instructed the Secretary-General of the Pan-Arab Organization to monitor developments in this regard and present a report to this effect at a upcoming ministerial meeting.
The Arab leaders also warned any country that would go beyond international legality by taking a measure similar to that of the US President.
At the same time, they hailed the positions taken by many international and regional organizations rejecting Washington's decision and reiterated their commitment to the observance of the United Nations Charter and the related Security Council resolutions.
The resolution argues that the legitimisation of the occupation represents "a serious reversal of the American position and a fundamental violation of the principles of international legality, which increases tension in the region and impedes efforts to achieving a comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East and ending the occupation on the basis of the principle of land for peace".
For Arab leaders, the American decision is a contradiction with the responsibility of the United States as a permanent member of the Security Council to ensure compliance with its resolutions and the UN Charter.
Moreover, it "does not change the legal status of the Syrian Golan, in so far as it remains an occupied territory which gives no right to Israel", the document added, underlining the Arab countries' commitment to the principles which in the first place refuses to undermine the sovereignty of their territories as a fundamental principle of the joint Arab action.
The resolution reiterates, in this regard, the total support of the Arab countries to Syria for the recovery of the occupied Golan, as well as in Lebanon for the recovery of the plains of Chebaa and Tallel Kfar Shouber and the northern part of the village of Ghajr occupied by Israel.
-0- PANA BB/JSG/BBA/VAO 1April2019
