RAMALLAH, December 22, 2017 (WAFA) – The UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) vote in favor of a draft resolution rejecting US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital hit the front page headlines in Palestinian Arabic dailies on Friday.
Al-Quds reported that the UN has rejected US President Donald Trump’s decision on Jerusalem and hailed the vote as a “new diplomatic victory for Palestine”.
Al-Ayyam described the vote as a “great victory for Palestine” and as a “slap in the face of the US and Israel.”
The dailies added that 128 member states voted in favor of the draft resolution, with nine opposing and 35 abstaining.
Highlighting official Palestinian statements on the vote, al-Quds and al-Ayyam said that Presidential Spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh welcomed and commended the vote.
Abu Rudeineh was reported in al-Hayat al-Jadida stating the resolution reflects that the international community stands with the Palestinian people’s right.
He was also reported stating that: “]No decisions made by any side could change the reality that[ Jerusalem is an occupied territory under international law.”
The Palestinian government was reported in al-Ayyam hailing the vote as a “historic event” and thanking all member states who voted in favor of the motion.
Furthermore, Secretary-General of the PLO Executive Committee Saeb Erekat was reported in al-Quds stating that the vote showed that “the world stood with right” and describing the vote as “historic and binding”.
Al-Quds and al-Ayyam also highlighted Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan taking the aim at Washington’s threat to cut aid for countries that back the UN measure.
They reported him calling on the world “never sell your democratic will in return for pretty dollars.”
Moreover, the dailies reported that President Mahmoud Abbas concluded a three-day official visit to Saudi Arabia and is heading to Paris.
He was also reported in al-Hayat al-Jadida commending the “international consensus” in support of the Palestinian people and the just Palestinian cause.
According to al-Quds and al-Ayyam, Israeli police beefed up their presence in East Jerusalem, particularly at Bab al-Amoud (Damascus Gate) in anticipation of Friday rallies.
The dailies reported that the Israeli occupation authorities have commenced the construction of a portion of Israel’s illegal “separation” wall on Palestinian lands belonging to Tuqu town, east of Bethlehem.
Al-Quds reported that Israeli forces suppressed renewed demonstrations against US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital across the occupied Palestinian Territories, injuring a number of Palestinians with live rounds and rubber-coated steel bullets.
Al-Ayyam said in this regard that scores of Palestinians suffocated and others sustained injuries during renewed confrontations with Israeli forces.
Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar was reported in al-Quds stating that Hamas “does not want to be a party in the destructive intra-Palestinian division”.
Spotlighting a new census of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida reported the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics announcing that there are 174,422 Palestinian refugees living in 12 camps and 156 communities in Lebanon.
The two dailies reported that Israeli Jewish settlers have chopped down 20 olive trees in Madama village, south of Nablus.
They said that the African National Congress (ANC), the ruling party in South Africa, decided to downsize its embassy in Israel to a liaison office in response to the US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Finally, al-Hayat al-Jadida highlighted a New York Times report titled Defying Trump, U.N. General Assembly condemns U.S. decree on Jerusalem.
It quoted the report describing the UN General Assembly’s vote on Jerusalem as a “collective act of defiance towards Washington” and “rebuke” of Washington.
K.F.
