RAMALLAH, April 11, 2018 (WAFA) – President Mahmoud Abbas said on Wednesday that the Palestinian people have been facing a conspiracy that started 100 years ago, since the infamous Balfour Declaration, and the latest episode in this conspiracy is US President Donald Trump’s “sinful declaration in which he alleged that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, defying with this the feelings and beliefs of hundreds of millions of Muslims and Christians and violating international law and resolutions on this matter.”
Addressing the ninth annual Islamic Beit al-Maqdes International Conference, President Abbas said for this reason he has called for an international conference based on international resolutions with multilateral mechanism to oversee any future negotiations with Israel and the peace process.
“The Americans said this and said that Jerusalem is off the table and the refugees are off the table and did not recognize the two-state solution then they talk about the deal of the century. I don’t know what is this deal of the century when they take all these issues off the table? Frankly, we are not waiting for anything from them and will not accept anything from them. Since the US has taken this blatant biased position toward Israel, then it cannot anymore be a mediator, since a mediator has to be impartial and impartiality is missing here. For this reason we said we want multilateral mediation that comes from an international conference held under the auspices of the international legitimacy to mediate between us and the Israelis. This is what we asked for and this is, God willing, will be one of the most important decisions of the upcoming Arab summit.”
President Abbas said “we and all the Arabs and the Muslims and Christians with us reject this declaration that is biased toward occupation and Israeli aggression.”
He stressed that Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the State of Palestine and will always remain so.
“No Palestinian, Arab, Muslim or Christian was born or will be born who is going to compromise on Jerusalem, surrender any part of it or take lightly its religious and historical value and place,” he said. “There is no meaning for Palestine without Jerusalem and no meaning for Jerusalem without its Muslim and Christian holy place and it will remain the eternal capital of Palestine.”
The two-day conference opened on Wednesday in the presence of representatives from several Arab and Muslim countries and other guests.
Israel has meanwhile blocked entry to the West Bank of some visitors from abroad, including a Ghanaian lawmaker.
