Iraq, a large beneficiary of US aid, votes against Trump and Jerusalem
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – Iraq, one of the largest beneficiaries of US aid annually, was among the 128 countries in the UN General Assembly who stood against US President Donald Trump’s decision in recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Earlier this month, Trump reversed decades of Washington’s policy by announcing the US recognized Jerusalem - home to major Muslim, Jewish and Christian holy sites - as the capital of Israel and that it would move its embassy there.
Over 120 countries challenged President Trump on Thursday and voted in favor of a United Nations General Assembly resolution calling for the United States to drop its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
“The United States will remember this day in which it was singled out for attack in the General Assembly for the very act of exercising our right as a sovereign nation,” US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, told the 193-member General Assembly ahead of Thursday’s vote.
“We will remember it when we are called upon to once again make the world’s largest contribution to the United Nations, and so many countries come calling on us, as they so often do, to pay even more and to use our influence for their benefit,” she said.
The nine countries voting "no" were the US, Israel, Guatemala, Honduras, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Marshall Islands and Togo. Among the notable abstentions were Australia, Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, and Mexico.
While speaking to the cabinet members on Wednesday, Trump said he liked what Haley had stated. “For all these nations, they take our money and then vote against us. They take hundreds of millions of dollars, even billions of dollars, and then they vote against us,” Trump said.
“We’re watching those votes. Let them vote against us. We’ll save a lot. We don’t care,” he added.
Iraq was one of the 128 countries who welcomed the UN General Assembly resolution rejecting the US position on Jerusalem, labeling it “a victory for international legitimacy” over the Palestinian cause.
“The determination of Iraq affirms its steadfast and principled position on Palestine and Jerusalem and its call on the world to stand up against the attempts to undermine the Holy City [Jerusalem],” Ahmed Mahjub, spokesman for the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, stated on Friday in a statement.
“Iraq's vote among 128 countries in favor of the resolution, which came near international consensus, has made the declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of the Zionist entity void and proved the legitimate and legal right of Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital,” Mahjoub added.
Iraq has greatly benefitted from US economic and humanitarian assistance in the past decade.
According to figures from the US government’s aid agency, USAID, in 2016, some $13 billion have been provided to countries in the Middle East and North Africa, $6.7 billion to countries in South and Central Asia, $1.5 billion to states in Europe and Eurasia, and $2.2 billion to Western Hemisphere countries.
An estimated $5.28 billion aid has been provided to Iraq in 2016 alone, according to the USAID data.
USAID also provided some $13 billion in economic and military assistance to countries in sub-Saharan Africa and $1.6 billion to states in East Asia and Oceania.
Editing by Nadia Riva