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Groton Daily Independent
Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 165 ~ 35 of 44
Mexico and Colombia.
The votes cast by these countries will provide an indication about whether the diplomatic outreach is
paying off.
Votes by other key allies with traditionally close ties to Israel, including Germany, Britain, Australia, Canada
and smaller European countries like the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Poland and Hungary, could also provide valuable indicators about support for the U.S.-Israeli approach.
Many of these countries either abstained or opposed a landmark 2012 vote in the General Assembly that recognized Palestine with upgraded status as a nonmember state.
The Israeli of cial said a single vote at the U.N. on Thursday would not determine the success of Israel’s diplomatic outreach. But he said “this is certainly part of it.”
A draft of the U.N. resolution obtained by The Associated Press calls for af rming that any actions that “have altered the character, status or demographic composition of the Holy City of Jerusalem” have no legal effect and must be rescinded. It also calls upon all states “to refrain from the establishment of dip- lomatic missions” in Jerusalem.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki, who was in New York for the vote, called the U.S. threats “danger- ous” and predicted that they would not have a major impact. “We believe that there is world consensus against the U.S. decision on Jerusalem. This was clearly re ected in the Security Council, despite the U.S. veto,” he told the AP.
Trump shattered decades of U.S. neutrality on Jerusalem on Dec. 6 when he recognized the holy city as Israel’s capital and said he will move the U.S. Embassy there.
Trump said the move was not meant to prejudge negotiations on the nal borders of the city, and instead merely recognized reality since Jerusalem already serves as Israel’s capital.
But the announcement was widely perceived as taking the side of Israel in the most sensitive issue of the Israeli-Palestinian con ict.
The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem, home to key Muslim, Jewish and Christian holy sites, and which Israel captured and annexed in 1967, as the capital of a future state. The international community has said the status of Jerusalem should be decided in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
Netanyahu has repeatedly praised Trump’s decision and said he expects other nations to follow suit. But so far, the announcement has triggered mostly denunciations and demonstrations around the world. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement and other groups have organized mass protests while its rival, the Gaza-based Islamic militant group Hamas, has called for a third violent uprising against
Israel. In all, eight Palestinians have been killed, most in clashes along the Gaza border with Israel.
The unrest continued on Wednesday as dozens of Palestinians clashed with Israeli forces in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, where protesters burned a large American ag and hurled stones at the Israelis.
Demonstrators also scuf ed with Israeli police in east Jerusalem and along the Gaza border.
Abbas has said that the U.S. can no longer serve as the sole Mideast mediator, and he has been trying
to rally support in Europe and the Arab world.
On Wednesday, Abbas was meeting with leaders of Saudi Arabia, an in uential country believed to have
low-level but warming ties with Israel, before heading to France.
Mass recall of French-made baby milk over salmonella fears By JEFFREY SCHAEFFER and ANGELA CHARLTON, Associated Press
PARIS (AP) — A tainted baby milk scandal affecting some 30 countries is growing, as French dairy giant Lactalis recalled millions more products globally because of fears of salmonella contamination.
Pharmacies and supermarkets pulled cans and bottles of baby milk off shelves Thursday as the company — one of the world’s biggest names in dairy — scrambled to contain the damage.
Lactalis had already recalled several million baby milk products earlier this month. On Thursday, the company expanded the recall to all products made in its factory in Craon in western France since February “as a precautionary measure.”