SAUDI ARABIA

Arab League calls emergency meeting on US embassy move

May 14, 2018

Cairo — The Arab League will hold emergency talks Wednesday to discuss Washington’s “illegal” decision to move the US embassy in Israel to occupied Jerusalem, a senior official said.

The meeting will focus on “ways of countering the illegal decision by the United States to move the embassy to Jerusalem”, the organization’s deputy secretary general for Palestinian affairs, Saeed Abu Ali, said.

He told reporters the permanent representatives of members of the Cairo-based Arab League would meet “at the request of the state of Palestine”.

Arab League chief Ahmed Abul Gheit blasted as “shameful” countries that are celebrating the opening of the US embassy in Israel in the disputed holy city of Jerusalem.

“It is shameful to see countries participating with the US and Israel in celebrating the former’s embassy move to occupied Jerusalem in a clear and grave violation of international law and (UN) Security Council resolutions,” said Abul Gheit.

Speaking in Cairo, where the Arab League is based, he called on all countries to “refrain from taking any step that would harm the rights of the Palestinian people.”

Abul Gheit said the move “represents an extremely dangerous step” and “I don’t think the American administration realizes its real implications in the short and long terms”.

“The Palestinian side feels that the United States has abandoned its historic role as a credible mediator in this conflict, after Washington unfortunately revealed full bias towards the Israeli positions which consistently contradict international legitimacy and law.”

Jordan denounced the embassy move as a “clear violation” of the UN charter.

In a statement, it also “condemned” a unilateral decision by US President Donald Trump to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, despite Palestinian claims to part of the disputed city.

Jordan is the only other Arab country besides Egypt to have ties with Israel, and it is also the custodian of Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem.

The status of the holy city is perhaps the thorniest issue in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel considers the entire city its capital, while the Palestinians see east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

OIC slams shifting of US embassy to Jerusalem

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) strongly rejected the US Administration’s unlawful opening of its embassy in Jerusalem. Condemning the decision in the strongest terms, the pan Islamic body considered this action as an attack on the historical, legal, natural and national rights of the Palestinian people.

In a press statement, OIC said that the US action undermines the standing of the United Nations and rule of international law and thus represents a violation to international peace and security as expressed by the Extraordinary OIC Islamic Summit held in Istanbul on 13 December 2017, and by the international community at the UN General Assembly session held on 21 Dec. 2017.

The OIC stated that this deplorable action by the US Administration is a clear violation of all existing international laws and UN resolutions pertaining to the status of Jerusalem and Palestine.

The specific status of Al Quds Al Sharif (Jerusalem) is central to the OIC, to the Muslim Ummah, and to other religions, which therefore requires the protection and preservation of its unique spiritual, religious and cultural dimensions. Hence, the final status of Jerusalem should and must be resolved through negotiations in line with relevant UN resolutions.

The OIC urged all countries to refrain from supporting the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as the so-called capital of Israel and not relocate their diplomatic missions to Jerusalem.


May 14, 2018
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