The proposal is entitled, "Israel's illegal activities in conquered eastern Jerusalem and in the other occupied Palestinian territories."

The point of the proposal is to forbid Israel from expelling or killing Yasser Arafat. U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte stated that the proposal does not contain a balancing condemnation of Hamas. Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Dan Gillerman, told the Security Council on the occasion of the previous vote,

"For how long will there be states among us who are willing to continue the charade of touting Mr. Arafat as a legitimate leader committed to the welfare of his people and peaceful relations with his neighbors? The ruin that Mr. Arafat has left behind in Jordan, in Lebanon, and in the West Bank testifies that he has brought nothing but despair and devastation to his own people and to other people in the region... It would be a grave error if the Council were to come to the aid not of the victims of terrorism, but of the sponsor and perpetrator [of the terror]."