Palestinians seek weekend prayers to protest US Embassy move
Palestinian leaders step up opposition against Donald Trump's promised US Embassy move to Jerusalem, urging special prayers throughout the Middle East in protest against the step.
US President-elect Donald Trump promised such a move during his campaign.
Mohammed Ishtayeh, an adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said Tuesday that the Palestinians were told by "American circles and diplomatic friends" that Trump might reaffirm the plan during his January 20 inaugural speech.
Ishtayeh says an embassy move would mean "the end of the two-state solution" to the conflict and would violate a global consensus.
The Palestinians seek a future capital in east Jerusalem, captured and annexed by Israel after surrounding Arab nations attacked in in the 1967 Six-Day War.
President Abbas recently sent a letter to Trump informing him of “the dangers entailed in moving the American embassy to Jerusalem.”
Abbas asked Trump to refrain from taking the step, describing it as destructive for the peace process, counterproductive to the two-state solution and to the stability of the region.
In addition, Abbas sent a letter to European heads of state, to China, to the secretary-general of the Arab League and to Russia urging them to take measures to prevent the move.
