Egypt urges world to 'intervene in racist occupation'
Following another clash between Jews and Palestinians in east Jerusalem, Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman slams Israeli actions, calls on international community to work to 'prevent Israel from executing its will, which is against international law'
The official, Hossam Zaki, made the harsh remark several hours after Jews entered a house in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood armed with a court order, and clashed with local Palestinian residents.
The Egyptian official stressed that "Israel's power in the world will fail in imposing a reality on the ground in terms of the Palestinian territories, and particularly in occupied Jerusalem." He added that "Israel will not succeed in receiving legitimization for something which is illegal."
Zaki went on to say that his country was concerned by the Israeli moves in Jerusalem, due to the fact that they are "aimed at changing the city's geographical and demographic nature."
He stressed that Egypt condemned what he referred to as "the Israeli aggressiveness and escalation against Jerusalem and against the al-Aqsa Mosque."
Meanwhile, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said Tuesday that his country demands guarantees that the talks between Israel and the Palestinians won't be used "to play for time".
"We want guarantees for the Palestinians… in order to promise them that the talks won't be used to stall or complete the Israelis' goals against them," Aboul Gheit said during a press conference in Cairo. He added that his country demands a commitment which would guarantee the establishment of a Palestinian state.
The Sheikh Jarrah incident broke out after dozens of Jewish residents entered a Palestinian family's house with a court order and backed by a police force, in an ongoing custody battle involving 28 houses that courts say belonged to Jews before the establishment of the State.
A number of the neighborhood's residents and human rights activists arrived at the scene to protest against the Jewish entry, but the police did not let them in and even detained a left-wing activist for questioning.
