RAMALLAH, February 23, 2018 (WAFA) – Moving the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on May 14 is not only a violation of international law, but also provocative to the feelings of the Palestinian and Arab people, said Saeb Erekat, Secretary General of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

“The US decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and now to move its embassy on the eve of marking 70 years since the Nakba (catastrophe), the ethnic cleansing of at least 418 Palestinian villages, and the forcible displacement of two thirds of our people, shows the determination of the US administration to violate international law, destroy the two-state solution, and provoke the feelings of the Palestinian people, as well as of all Arabs, Muslims and Christians around the globe," said Erekat in a statement.

"As we have stated before and is now abundantly clear by the decision to move its embassy in direct violation of UN Security Council Resolution 478, President Trump and his team have disqualified the US from being part of the solution between Israelis and Palestinians; rather, the world now sees that they are part of the problem."

The PLO official said the US decision clearly contradicts international law and consensus on the legal status of Jerusalem.

"East Jerusalem is the capital of the State of Palestine, an integral part of the territory occupied by Israel since 1967,” he said.

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