RAMALLAH, December 20, 2017 (WAFA) – The United Nations vote affirming Palestinian right to self-determination and the protests that continued in the occupied territories and around the world against US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital dominated the front page headlines of the Wednesday issue of the three Palestinian Arabic dailies published in Jerusalem and Ramallah.
The main front page headline in al-Hayat al-Jadida said: “A new world slap to the American veto: Overwhelming vote in favor of Palestine at the United Nations.”
Al-Quds, which is the only daily that publishes in East Jerusalem, said in its headline on the same story that 176 member states of the UN General Assembly supported a resolution that affirmed the Palestinian right to self-determination.
Al-Ayyam had the story further down the page but said also that the General Assembly is going to hold an extraordinary session on Thursday to vote on a resolution that has to do with the US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. It published the text of the draft resolution on Jerusalem.
The papers also reported on the protests that have been going on almost daily in the occupied territories and around the world against the US Jerusalem decision.
They also reported on the visit by President Mahmoud Abbas to Saudi Arabia, where he is expected to meet on Wednesday with the king and crown prince to discuss the ramifications of the US decision.
They reported as well on a visit by a Palestinian delegation to Moscow and Palestinian-Russian meetings. Al-Ayyam said the meeting discussed support for a multinational peace process after the Palestinians have ruled out any further US role in the peace process.
The papers also reported on the Israeli army detention of Ahd Tamimi from the village of Nabi Saleh near Ramallah following an Israeli campaign against her after she appeared in video confronting Israeli soldiers who raided her village and home.
They also said the UN condemned the Israeli army killing of Ibrahim Abu Thuraya, a disabled Palestinian in Gaza who had lost both his legs in a previous Israeli war on Gaza. Abu Thuraya was shot dead on Friday during confrontations near the border fence between Gaza and southern Israel.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida printed a picture of disabled Palestinians demonstrating outside Damascus Gate in Jerusalem in protest against the killing of Abu Thuraya.
Al-Ayyam said Israel opened a new synagogue under the plaza of the Al-Buraq/Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City.
It said that Palestinian businessman Sabih Masri, chairman of the board of the Arab Bank who was held in Saudi Arabia for a week, has returned to his home in the Jordanian capital Amman.
Al-Quds said that the Palestinian government has announce national holidays marking Christmas Day on December 25 for the Catholic Church and January 7 for the Orthodox Church as well as January 1, the New Year.
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