The NZ UN Middle East resolution

Stuff reports:

New Zealand has drafted a United Nations Security Council resolution that calls for Israel to stop building settlements in occupied territories and for the Palestinians to refrain from referring cases to the International Criminal Court.

The two-page draft also asks both sides to avoid provocative acts and not to question the “integrity or commitment of the other party or its leaders.”

Good to see the draft NZ resolution is relatively balanced and calls for restraint on both sides. Far too many UN resolutions only make demands on Israel.

The text was circulated this week to the 15-member council, Israel, the Palestinians and other countries in the region to gauge reaction. New Zealand UN Ambassador Gerard van Bohemen said the aim was “to try and get the council to speak with a united voice even if in a relatively modest way.”

“There’s been a worrying deterioration on the ground and we’re stuck with nothing happening in the peace process and no commitment in the council to do anything,” van Bohemen said. “We have to find a starting point and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

It isn’t a roadmap to peace, but a useful step forward.