‘No future role for US here’
Washington not up to task of mediating in Mideast peace, says Abbas
THE Palestinian president said yesterday his people will not accept any role for the US in the Middle East peace process “from now on” following President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Mahmoud Abbas spoke at a gathering of heads of state and top officials from Islamic nations at a summit in Turkey which is expected to forge a unified Muslim world’s stance against Trump’s move.
Abbas called Trump’s decision a “crime” that threatened world peace. He called on the UN to take charge of the peace process and create a new mechanism, arguing that Washington is no longer “fit” for the task.
The Palestinian leader also said that the Palestinians were committed to a peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but that after Trump’s pivot on Jerusalem, Washington was not accepted as a fair negotiator.
The Istanbul gathering of heads of state and top officials from the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC) could offer the Muslim world’s strongest response yet to Washington’s move.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the current OIC president, called on countries to urgently recognise the Palestinian state and Jerusalem as its capital.
Erdogan has been among the most vocal critics of Trump’s announcement.
In remarks to the summit, he said Israel is an “occupying” and “terror state”.
Jerusalem’s status is at the core of the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Trump’s December 6 announcement was widely perceived as siding with Israel.
It also raised fears of more bloodshed as past crises over Jerusalem had triggered violent outbreaks.
Earlier, in opening remarks to a pre-summit meeting, Turkey’s foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, told OIC foreign ministers that the US decision aims to “legitimise Israel’s attempt to occupy Jerusalem”.
“They expect the Islamic nation to remain silent,” he said.
“But we will never be silent. This bullying eliminates the possibility of peace and the grounds for shared life. The US’s decision is null for us.”
Most countries across the world have not recognised Israel’s 1967 annexation of East Jerusalem. Under a long-standing international consensus, the fate of the city is to be determined in negotiations.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun, Jordanian King Abdullah II and top ministers of numerous nations were to attend the gathering in Istanbul.
In an emergency meeting in Cairo last weekend, Arab foreign ministers demanded the US rescind Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. In a resolution long on rhetoric but short on concrete actions, the ministers also called for the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution condemning Trump’s decision, but acknowledged that Washington would most likely veto it.
Israel has considered Jerusalem its capital since the state’s establishment in 1948 and sees the city as the ancient capital of the Jewish people. In the 1967 war, Israel captured the city’s eastern sector and later annexed it in a move that was not recognised internationally.
The Palestinians equally lay claim to Jerusalem and want the eastern part of the city as capital of their future state.
About 320 000 Palestinians live in that part of the city and Palestinians claim a deep cultural, historical and religious connection to the city.
The Old City in East Jerusalem is home to sites holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims, such as the Western Wall and Al-Aqsa Mosque. – AP