CAIRO, February 24, 2018 (WAFA) – Secretary General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit said on Saturday the United States’ decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem next May on the 70th anniversary of the Palestinian exodus, the Nakba, is likely going to undermine the last chance of peace and coexistence between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
The US’ decision "represents a new and dangerous episode in the series of provocations and wrong [US] decisions that have been going on since last December," Mahmoud Afifi, spokesman for Aboul Gheit, said in a press statement.
“The US decision to move its embassy [in Israel to Jerusalem] on the Nakba anniversary reveals the full bias [of the US] towards Israel… This annuls the capacity required for the US to sponsor a peaceful process leading to a just and lasting solution to the conflict,” Afifi added on behalf of Aboul Gheit.
Afifi stressed that moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem should have no legal impact on the status of the city as an occupied territory, as the vast majority of the world countries have rejected the US decision.
“The US decision is a disregard to the international legitimacy and represents a violation of the UN Security Council resolutions 476 and 478 of 1980. The Arab countries are determined to address all the negative consequences of this resolution and to ensure that no other country makes a similar move in the future so the US move would always be isolated," Afifi said.
Afifi revealed that a delegation of five foreign ministers of Arab countries will be heading to Brussels next Sunday to meet Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, along with other foreign ministers of the European Union.
He said the question of Palestine will be on top of the agenda of the meetings.
A.D./M.N.
