U.S.NO LONGER PEACE BROKER, SAYS ABBAS
istanbul — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told Arab and Islamic leaders on Wednesday that the United States is no longer fit to broker an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal and should be replaced as mediator by the United Nations, outlining a significant policy shift in response to US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
In an impassionate speech, Abbas said his people will no longer accept the US as a peace broker but added that they remain committed to international resolutions which have formed the basis of the process.
Abbas was speaking at the gathering of heads of state and top officials from Islamic nations at a summit called in Turkey to forge a unified Muslim world’s stance against Trump’s move.
Abbas said Trump’s decision was a “crime” which came at a time when the Palestinians were engaged with Washington in a new push to reach what he said was anticipated to be the “deal of our times”.
“Instead we got the slap of our times,” Abbas said. “The United States has chosen to lose its qualification as a mediator ... We will no longer accept that it has a role in the political process from now.”
A statement from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) later urged the world to recognise occupied East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine.
The statement declared “East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine” and invited “all countries to recognise the State of Palestine and East Jerusalem as its occupied capital”. They declared Trump’s decision “null and void legally” and “a deliberate undermining of all peace efforts” that would give impetus to “extremism and terrorism”. —
istanbul — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told Arab and Islamic leaders on Wednesday that the United States is no longer fit to broker an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal and should be replaced as mediator by the United Nations, outlining a significant policy shift in response to President Donald Trump’s recognition of occupied Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
In a speech, Abbas said his people will no longer accept the United States as a peace broker but added that they remain committed to international resolutions which have formed the basis of the process.
Abbas was speaking at the gathering of heads of state and top officials from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Turkey that is expected to forge a unified Muslim world’s stance against Trump’s move.
Abbas said Trump’s decision was a “crime” which came at a time when the Palestinians were engaged with Washington in a new push to reach what he said was anticipated to be the “deal of our times”.
“Instead we got the slap of our times,” Abbas said. “The United States has chosen to lose its qualification as a mediator ... We will no longer accept that it has a role in the political process from now.”
“We call that the (peace) process in its entirety be transferred to the United Nations,” Abbas said. He also called on countries that believe in the two-state solutions to recognise Palestine as a state, and urged Arab and Muslim nations to financially support east Jerusalem.
In his over-an-hour-long speech, Abbas also urged Muslim nations and countries with relations with Israel to take necessary political and economic measures against Israel “to force it to abide by international consensus” to end its occupation of Palestinian territories, including east Jerusalem.
The Istanbul gathering of heads of state and top officials from the 57-member OIC was also an opportunity for the Muslim world to offer its strongest response yet to Washington’s move.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan— the current president of the OIC — 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 state” and a “terror state”.
King Abdullah II of Jordan told
Jerusalem is and will forever be the capital of the Palestinian state... There will be no peace, no stability without that Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian President
the gathering that the Trump decision was “grave”, threatening the resumption of any peace talks.
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
Trump’s decision threatens resumption of peace talks. all violence... is a result of a failure to find a peaceful solution King Abdullah, Jordan’s ruler
will never be silent. This bullying eliminates the possibility of peace and the grounds for shared life. The US’ decision is null for us.”
Most countries around 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,
I invite all countries ... to recognise Jerusalem as the occupied capital of Palestine. We cannot be late any more Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish President
Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun, and top ministers of numerous nations were also attending the gathering in Istanbul.
The secretary general of OIC called on countries that have not recognised Palestine as a state to do so. Yousef bin Ahmad Al Othaimeen told the summit the US decision on Jerusalem is “an exceptional challenge” facing Muslim
The us decision is an exceptional challenge facing muslim nations and it will fan violence in the region Yousef Othaimeen, OIC secretary-general
nations and that it will fan violence in the region, giving extremists an excuse to sow chaos.
In an emergency meeting in Cairo last weekend, Arab League foreign ministers demanded that the US rescind Trump’s decision. In a resolution, the ministers also called for the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution condemning Trump’s decision. — AP