Vows of fresh protests
> Arab League urges withdrawal of Trump’s Jerusalem decision
RAMALLAH: Fatah called on Palestinians to keep up their demonstrations over Washington’s policy shift on Jerusalem as the movement confirmed its leader will refuse to meet with US Vice-President Michael Pence later this month in protest at the controversial decision.
After protests gripped the West Bank and Gaza for a third straight day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due in Paris yesterday where demonstrators had rallied on the eve of his arrival.
Arab League ministers, meeting in an emergency meeting in Cairo late Saturday, meanwhile urged Washington to rescind its Jerusalem decision.
President Donald Trump’s decision on Wednesday to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital upended decades of American diplomacy, causing an overwhelming global diplomatic backlash.
Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahayan also said the UAE hopes the US would reconsider its decision as it may help militants.
“The US move could throw a lifebuoy to terrorist and armed groups, which have begun to lose ground in the region,” said Sheikh Mohammed, speaking to a delegation from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Four Palestinians have now been killed and dozens hurt since Trump announced the new policy, which drew criticism from every other UN Security Council member at an emergency meeting on Friday.
In a statement, Fatah urged Palestinians to “keep up confrontation and broaden it to all points where the Israeli army is present” in the West Bank.
Its leader – Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas – also became the latest influential Arab figure to pull out of talks with Pence who will travel to the region later this month.
“There will be no meeting with the vicepresident of America in Palestine,” Abbas’s diplomatic adviser Majdi al-Khaldi said.
“The US has crossed all the red lines with the Jerusalem decision.”
There were fresh clashes Saturday as Palestinians in the occupied West Bank hurled stones at Israeli troops who responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds.
The US embassy in Lebanon and Indonesia also saw people gathered to protest the move, with Lebanese security forces firing tear gas and water cannons yesterday, injuring several demonstrators.
In Jakarta, thousands showed up yesterday for a second day of protests. – Agencies