Arab League condemns US Jerusalem move

International Desk: The head of the Arab League has called US President Donald Trump's decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital "dangerous and unacceptable" and a "flagrant attack on a political solution" to the Israeli- Palestinian conflict.

The statement by Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, the regional bloc's secretary-general, came at the start of an emergency meeting of foreign ministers from 22 Arab states in Egypt's capital, Cairo, on Saturday.

Aboul-Gheit said Trump's decision was "against international law and raises questions over American efforts to support peace" between Palestine and Israel.

The shift in US policy "undermines Arab confidence" in the Trump administration and "amounts to the legalisation" of the Israeli occupation of Palestine, he added.

Leaders from across the globe made similar remarks in the days before and after Trump's announcement on Wednesday. The US president also ordered the US embassy be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

World leaders said the move could derail peace efforts.

During an emergency meeting, UN Security Council members on Friday widely condemned Trump's decision, which sparked deadly protests in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank.

Demonstrations denouncing the US move were held in a number of other Muslim countries too. 

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki, speaking to reporters ahead of the meeting in Cairo, said Palestinians can no longer accept the US as a broker in the peace process because it has now "positioned itself as a party in a dispute and not as a mediator".

Calling for a UN Security Council action against Trump's decision, al-Maliki added, "America is being an aggressor against the Palestinian people and against international law."

US officials, however, have defended the move, saying Trump remains committed to reviving long-stalled talks between the Palestinians and Israelis.The status of Jerusalem, home to sites holy to Muslims, Jews and Christians, is one of the core issues in the perennial Israeli-Palestinian conflict. After occupying the city's eastern part in the 1967 War, Israel annexed the territory, and proclaimed it as its "eternal, undivided capital."

The Palestinians, however, see East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, a position Aboul-Gheit backed in his opening statement on Saturday.

 

Source: Agencies


risingbd/Dec 10, 2017/Mukul