US embassy move puts Mideast peace at risk
Palestinians step up efforts against Trump’s pledge
JeRusalem: Palestinians stepped up their campaign to prevent President-elect Donald Trump from carrying out his pledge to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas asked his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for help, while the Grand Mufti told worshippers the move would constitute an assault against Muslims worldwide.
The Palestinians consider such a move as recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, warning it would inflame tensions in the Middle East and possibly sink peace efforts.
In his Friday sermon at Al-Aqsa mosque in annexed east Jerusalem’s Old City, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein warned that believers around the world would not accept such a move.
“The pledge to move the embassy is not just an assault against Palestinians but against Arabs and Muslims, who will not remain silent,” he said.
“The transfer of the embassy violates international charters and norms which recognise Jerusalem as an occupied city,” Hussein said in his sermon, without naming Trump.
Palestinian leaders had called for the weekly Friday prayers at mosques across the Middle East this week to protest Trump’s campaign pledge.
In Moscow, top Palestinian offi-
The pledge to move the embassy is not just an assault against Palestinians but against Arabs and Muslims, who will not remain silent. Sheikh Muhammad Hussein
cial Saeb Erekat said he had passed on a request of help from Abbas to Putin.
“The letter asks President Putin to do what he can about the information we have that Presidentelect Donald Trump will move the embassy to Jerusalem, which for us is a red line and dangerous,” he said after meeting with the Russian foreign minister.
Abbas has also written to Trump urging him not to move the embassy.
Previous US presidents, including George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, reneged on election commitments to move the embassy to Jerusalem.
The Palestinians regard east Jerusalem as the capital of a future state of their own, while Israel proclaims the entire city as its capital.