Riyad al-Maliki
Photo: EPA
Palestinian min. raps Arab states for spurring US J’lem move
Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki says Arab states’ failure to implement decisions also led to Guatemala’s ‘brazen’ decision to follow Trump; ‘If we are unable to implement these decisions, how can we prevent other states from making this kind of move?’
The Palestinian minister of foreign affair has accused Arab states of encouraging US President Donald Trump with his decision last December
to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital by failing to adopt and implement their own decisions on the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
Riyad al-Maliki charged that this failure also led to the Guatemalan president to echo Trump’s declaration and emulate his decision to transfer its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
“Arab states have no option of exerting pressure on Guatemala,” the Palestinian minister said. “This brazen act by Guatemala came only after it read the map and realized that the Arab states were not able to implement the decisions which they took on the Palestinian issue for many years."
Minister Riyad al-Maliki (Photo: Reuters)
On Sunday, Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales said that his country will move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv in May, two days after the US embassy makes the same move.
“I would like to thank President Trump for leading the way. His courageous decision has encouraged us to do what is right,” Morales said in a speech at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s annual policy conference, according to a translation of his remarks on the pro-Israel US lobbying group’s website.
“If we are not able to implement these decisions, how can we prevent other states from making this kind of move?” al-Maliki.
President Jimmy Morales at AIPAC Conference (Photo: AFP)
Palestinian officials in Ramallah say that so far Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has not managed to rally adequate support for his position from the international community.
According to those officials, some countries are loath to offer full support for the Palestinians for fear of falling out of favor with the US and its at times bellicose leader.
Other states, the officials claim, have gone a step further in actively pressuring others to adopt Trump’s position on the premise that only the US can serve as the broker in any future peace agreement and that ultimately only negotiations can resolve the decades-long conflict.
United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley at AIPAC Conference (Photo: AFP)
Earlier this week, United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley spoke about Israel's capital at the AIPAC Conference, declaring that "Jerusalem was, is and will always be the capital of Israel. That's a fact."
The assembled Washington crowd responded with raucous applause. "This was not something that was created by the location of embassy," she continued "This is not something that was created by an American decision. America did not make Jerusalem Israel's capital.”
