Palestinian President Abbas says U.S. Embassy move would hurt peace

[DonViejo]

Source: Reuters


Sat Jan 14, 2017 | 8:06am EST

By Philip Pullella | VATICAN CITY

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas discussed the Middle East with Pope Francis on Saturday and said prospects for peace there will suffer if U.S. president-elect Donald Trump moves Washington's embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

"We are waiting to see if it happens. If it does, it will not help peace and we hope it does not happen," Abbas told reporters outside the Vatican gates minutes after 25 minutes of talks with the pope.

Abbas, who spoke through an interpreter, stopped in Rome to open the new embassy of the State of Palestine to the Vatican.

Trump's promise to relocate the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem would upend decades of U.S. policy. Israel and the Palestinians, who are seeking a state of their own, both claim Jerusalem as their capital. Successive U.S. administrations have said the city’s status must be negotiated.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-palestinians-abbas-pope-idUSKBN14Y0FM

[Rustyeye77]

1. Oh....so he thinks West Jerusalem is his, huh ?

nt

[geek tragedy]

2. No, but such unilateral moves are highly provocarive

Falls under the same category as Palestinians being recognized as an independent state.

[karynnj]

6. Where do you get that from?

As the article clearly says, both the Palestinians and Israel see Jerusalem as their capital. In fact as the article says, "Jerusalem, which Israeli has declared its "united and eternal capital". If you read Kerry's speech, he offers a solution that allows BOTH to have Israel as their capital -- while keeping it one city.

I would assume that, if that happened as part of a peace plan, ALL countries might have embassies in Jerusalem. In fact, embassies for some countries might house TWO ambassadors - one for Israel and one for Palestine. However, moving the embassy NOW is provocative and the one thing the middle east does not need is an additional reason to get angry. There are reasons that no prior administartion, even when they said in campaigns they would, have moved the embassy.

[guillaumeb]

3. Abbas is correct.

But judging by behavior from 1948 through the present, successive Israeli Governments have obviously come to the conclusion that they get more land by staying continuously in conflict. The Israeli State has steadily absorbed more of Palestine every year since 1948. They will only stop when Palestine disappears. The one-state solution.

The only question is what will become of the remaining Palestinians.

[cloudbase]

4. Well, it's not as if there's any peace to hurt. n/t

[geek tragedy]

5. Things can always get worse nt