Mexico abstains from UN Jerusalem vote

On Thursday, the 193-member United Nations General Assembly held a rare emergency special session at the request of Arab and Muslim states on U.S. decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Mexico

was among the 35 countries that abstained from a vote during which more than 100 members of the United Nations overwhelmingly condemned the U.S. decision to move the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

On Twitter, Mexico's Foreign Ministry (SRE) wrote in Spanish: "Mexico abstains from UN vote regarding the status of Jerusalem to avoid greater polarization. Mexico's government supports dialogue as the means to resolve the conflict in the region."

In a statement, Juan Jose Gómez Camacho , Permanent Representative of Mexico to the United Nations explained that Mexico abstained from voting "concerned about the distortion that the legitimate peace quest between Palestine and Israel is struggling,” adding that the country “Mexico supports dialogue as the means to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian dispute , based on the two-State solution, that is, the right of Israel and Palestine to live in peace within secure and internationally recognized borders, as agreed in the Oslo Accords and ratified by various United Nations Security Council resolutions.”

The statement reiterated Mexico's decision to maintain its Embassy in Tel Aviv in accordance with the 1980 Security Council Resolution 478 and the UN General Assembly resolutions on the status of Jerusalem.

The countries that voted against the resolution condemning the U.S. decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital were Togo, Palau, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Honduras, Guatemala, Israel, and the U.S.

The countries that abstained from voting were Antigua-Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, the Bahamas, Benin, Bhutan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cameroon, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Fiji, Haiti, Hungary, Jamaica, Kiribati, Latvia, Lesotho, Malawi, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, the Philippines, Poland, Romania, Rwanda, the Solomon Islands, South Sudan, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda and Vanuatu.

Among the overwhelming majority of 128 countries that voted in favor of the resolution were the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, and China.

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