Abbas: "Transferring the American embassy to Jerusalem... will sabotage the peace process"
Headline: "The [PA] president: Transferring the American embassy to Jerusalem is provocative and will harm the peace process"
"[PA] President Mahmoud Abbas said that transferring the American embassy to Jerusalem will sabotage all future progress and the peace process. He noted that it is not just provocative but beyond provocative, and will harm the entire peace process.
The president, who led a [PA] government meeting today (Tuesday) [Jan. 17, 2017] conveyed a message to [US] President-elect Donald Trump by saying: ‘We hope that he will not transfer the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem as Jerusalem is a united city in the eyes of Israel, and it is not right and not legal. Therefore, transferring the embassy will sabotage all future progress, and therefore will [also] sabotage the peace process. We hope that he will stop the transfer of the embassy and begin negotiations on the basis of the international decisions and [UN] Security Council Resolution 2334, and on the basis of the results of the Paris Peace Conference [held Jan. 15, 2017]. When it all ends, each side will know what its borders are. We know that our borders are based on the 1967 [borders], including East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine. So they will do what they want, [but] before that, transferring the embassy will be not just provocative but beyond provocative, and will harm the entire peace process.’"
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UN Security Council Resolution 2334 was passed on Dec. 23, 2016, by a vote of 14-0 with one abstention.
The resolution condemned the establishment of Israeli "settlements in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem," saying it "has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law and a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-State solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace." It demanded that Israel “immediately and completely cease all settlement activities” in the area. The resolution further said “it will not recognize any changes to the 4 June 1967 lines” other than changes made through negotiations, in reference to the 1949-1967 ceasefire line between Israel and the neighboring Arab countries following Israel's 1948 War of Independence.
Paris Peace Conference - A peace conference was held in Paris on Jan. 15, 2017, attended by representatives from over 70 countries, but with no representatives from Israel or the PA. The conference issued a declaration calling for a negotiated peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians based on the two-state solution and praising UN Security Council Resolution 2334. Britain and Australia refused to sign the declaration, with Britain arguing that the declaration, which was made as part of the French Peace Initiative, might harden the Palestinian negotiating position, particularly given its timing right before the inauguration of US President Donald Trump’s administration. The following day Britain blocked the EU Foreign Affairs Council from adopting the declaration.
"[PA] President Mahmoud Abbas said that transferring the American embassy to Jerusalem will sabotage all future progress and the peace process. He noted that it is not just provocative but beyond provocative, and will harm the entire peace process.
The president, who led a [PA] government meeting today (Tuesday) [Jan. 17, 2017] conveyed a message to [US] President-elect Donald Trump by saying: ‘We hope that he will not transfer the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem as Jerusalem is a united city in the eyes of Israel, and it is not right and not legal. Therefore, transferring the embassy will sabotage all future progress, and therefore will [also] sabotage the peace process. We hope that he will stop the transfer of the embassy and begin negotiations on the basis of the international decisions and [UN] Security Council Resolution 2334, and on the basis of the results of the Paris Peace Conference [held Jan. 15, 2017]. When it all ends, each side will know what its borders are. We know that our borders are based on the 1967 [borders], including East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine. So they will do what they want, [but] before that, transferring the embassy will be not just provocative but beyond provocative, and will harm the entire peace process.’"
Click to view bulletin
UN Security Council Resolution 2334 was passed on Dec. 23, 2016, by a vote of 14-0 with one abstention.
The resolution condemned the establishment of Israeli "settlements in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem," saying it "has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law and a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-State solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace." It demanded that Israel “immediately and completely cease all settlement activities” in the area. The resolution further said “it will not recognize any changes to the 4 June 1967 lines” other than changes made through negotiations, in reference to the 1949-1967 ceasefire line between Israel and the neighboring Arab countries following Israel's 1948 War of Independence.
Paris Peace Conference - A peace conference was held in Paris on Jan. 15, 2017, attended by representatives from over 70 countries, but with no representatives from Israel or the PA. The conference issued a declaration calling for a negotiated peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians based on the two-state solution and praising UN Security Council Resolution 2334. Britain and Australia refused to sign the declaration, with Britain arguing that the declaration, which was made as part of the French Peace Initiative, might harden the Palestinian negotiating position, particularly given its timing right before the inauguration of US President Donald Trump’s administration. The following day Britain blocked the EU Foreign Affairs Council from adopting the declaration.
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