Daily Times

The Palestinian FM criticized India’s abstention at UN vote. Following India’s abstention at the UN Human Rights Council on a resolution proposing to set up commission for the inquiry of human rights violations done during Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, the Palestinian foreign minister has complained that New Delhi’s abstention “stifles the important work of… advancing human rights for all peoples, including those of the Palestinian people”.

The Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki wrote in a letter to the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, “India missed an opportunity to join the international community at this turning point, both crucial and long overdue, on the path to accountability, justice and peace,” the Indian Express reported.

A total of 14 countries abstained from the vote including India, France, Italy, Japan, Nepal, the Netherlands, Poland and South Korea. 24 members voted in favor among these were Pakistan, Russia, Bangladesh and China. While Germany, the UK and Austria along with 6 others voted against the resolution.

The permanent Representative of India to the UN had said in a statement at the UNSC on May 16: “I reiterate India’s strong support to the just Palestinian cause and its unwavering commitment to the two-State solution,” 11 days before the vote in Geneva.

On May 20, however, the Permanent Representative in a statement made at the UN General Assembly, omitted the “strong support to the just Palestinian cause”.

When the May 10-21 fighting between Israel and Hamas was still ongoing, India’s Permanent Representative T S Tirumurti said: “We support all ongoing diplomatic efforts, including of the Quartet, to bring the ongoing violence to an end and to seek durable peace, in line with the vision of the two States living side by side within secure and recognized borders.”

At the Human Rights Council on May 27, India said that it “welcomes the diplomatic efforts of the international community and regional countries that have resulted in bringing a ceasefire between Israel and armed groups in Gaza”.

In his letter al-Maliki wrote, “I write to express our concern by the position taken by Republic of India in the Human Rights Council 30th special session of 27th May 2021 on the seminal resolution…ensuring respect for international human rights law, and humanitarian law in occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel,”

He added, “The resolution is not an aberration to the Human Rights Council… It is the byproduct of extensive multilateral consultations. It is the consolidation of years and thorough investigations into and reporting on Israel’s grave violations by States, United Nations experts, Human Rights treaty bodies and international organizations, without effective accountability measures.”

The Indian media stated that New Delhi is abstaining from choosing a side. It is choosing to remain diplomatic which is not making either side happy. The Palestinian authorities are disappointed in the Republic of India, while Israel has not thanked the state either. Besides the abstention, Ramallah is upset that New Delhi did not refer to “the just Palestinian cause”.

The foreign minister expressed his disappointment saying, “Therefore, your abstention stifles the important work of Human Rights Council at advancing human rights for all peoples, including those of the Palestinian people. The Palestinian people have been excluded from the applicability of the universal and the indispensable principle of accountability, a prerequisite to justice and peace.”

If the “root causes of the injustice that befell the Palestinian people,… (and their) dispossession, displacement, colonization, oppression…and violation of their every human right by Israel” are not “prioritized”, al-Maliki said, “the situation will not only remain volatile, but will continue deteriorating with far reaching and grave repercussions.”