Malaysia rejects US decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israeli capital at UN General Assembly

PETALING JAYA: Despite earlier threats by US President Donald Trump, who threatened to cut off financial aid to countries that voted in favour of the resolution which calls for the United States to withdraw its decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, Malaysia stood firm.

“Malaysia joins the international community in expressing our deep concern and rejects the decision by the US to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel," said Malaysia's permanent representative to the United Nations (UN) in New York, Datuk Seri Mohd Shahrul Ikram Yaakob.

He was speaking at the 37th plenary meeting of the tenth emergency special session of the UN General Assembly, which was entitled “Illegal Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory”.

“It is also an infringement of the Palestinian people’s rights and their right to self determination,” he said, advocating a peaceful two-state solution and adding that Malaysia is concerned that this dire situation will only feed into the agenda of extremists.

It had been convened for the first time in April 1997, following a request from the permanent representative of Qatar.

Only 10 such sessions have ever been convened.

It was last resumed in 2009 when the assembly called a meeting on East Jerusalem and the Palestinian authorities.

The Thursday meeting is a continuation of that session.

According to reports, the representatives are seeking to invoke UN Resolution 377, known as the “Uniting for Peace” resolution, which is the only way to circumvent a Security Council veto.

The resolution states that the assembly can call an emergency special session to consider a matter “with a view to making appropriate recommendations to members for collective measures”, if the Security Council fails to act.

In a Dec 19 press briefing, the spokesperson for General Assembly President Miroslav Lajcák, Brenden Varma, said that General Assembly resolutions were not legally binding when asked if any resolution by the emergency special session would be so.

Nevertheless, they serve as “important expressions of political will from member states”.