Orthodox Union Strongly Opposes UN
Resolution on PLO Status
July 7, 1998 -- The Union of
Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, the largest mainstream Orthodox Jewish synagogue
organization in the United States, today condemned a new UN resolution passed today that
would grant the Palestinians more rights and privileges in their capacity as observers at
the UN.
This will allow the PLO to add signatures to proposed resolutions under the status of
"co-sponsor" and would move the PLO seats from the section reserved for
observers and inter-governmental organizations to a row behind the representatives of
Switzerland and the Vatican.
Even though this does not actually change the status, nevertheless, this grants more
recognition to the PLO. We strongly condemn this initiative as it is a serious violation
of the spirit of the Oslo Accords.
This attempt at trying to achieve near-state status at the United Nations is an attempt to
prejudge a final status issue and will most certainly have a negative impact on the peace
negotiations. The UN is not the appropriate forum for the discussion or determination of
the final status in Middle East peace issues which must be negotiated directly between
Israel and her peace partners.
A initiation of any process by the Palestinians whose intentions are to bring about the
upgrading of the status of their autonomy is a flagrant violation of the Oslo Accords and
directly contradicts commitments undertaken in agreements with Israel and the United
States.
The Orthodox Union praised the United States, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands for voting against this resolution which undermines the peace agreements.
The Orthodox Union once again expresses its deep disappointment in the UN, which, in continuing to be used as an international instrument against Israel, dampens hopes that true UN reform will be realized any time soon.
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