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Erekat: ‘Hope of peace will vanish’ if US embassy moves to Jerusalem

December 20, 2016 at 3:50 pm

Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) Saeb Erekat has warned that the PLO will revoke all previously signed agreements with Israel as well as the PLO’s 1993 recognition of Israel if President-elect Donald Trump follows through on his pledge to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

During a conference call in Washington DC organised by the Wilson Centre, Erekat reportedly said such a move would indicate the US’ acceptance of “Israel’s illegal annexation of East Jerusalem”, and further warned that “any hope of peace in the future will just vanish,” the Times of Israel reported yesterday evening.

The controversial move would also disregards Palestinian claims to the city, and terminates a longstanding White House policy to perpetually defer a 1995 Congressional decision to recognise Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and move the embassy there.

Erekat also said he would immediately resign as the PLO’s chief negotiator because he would not want to “fool [his] people” that there were any prospects of peace, and that supporters of the two-state solution – like himself – would be proven wrong if the embassy were to be moved.

Erekat also predicted that all American embassies in the Arab world would be forced to close as a consequence of the move because “the infuriated public in the Arab world would not ‘allow’ for the embassies to continue to operate,” according to the report.

Erekat’s comments follow an announcement from the Trump transition team on Friday appointing David Friedman as the next ambassador to Israel.

A bankruptcy lawyer who has formerly worked for Trump, Friedman is also an outspoken and active supporter of Israel’s illegal settlement construction and expansion, and the president of the American Friends in Beit El Yeshiva – a group that supports the illegal settlement of Beit El near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

Hours after he was appointed to the post, Friedman said he hoped to “strengthen the unbreakable bond between our two countries and advance the cause of peace within the region, and look forward to doing this from the US embassy in Israel’s eternal capital, Jerusalem.”

Friedman’s comments followed a similar pledge made by Trump himself during his presidential campaign, with Trump’s senior adviser Kellyanne Conway reiterating that moving the embassy would be “very big priority” for the Trump administration earlier this month.

Erekat reacted to the appointment of Friedman in the conference call, describing the future ambassador as “a very well-known extreme right wing supporter of settlers, supporter of annexation of East Jerusalem,” and referred to the development as “a disaster”.

“With such a move by Mr Trump,” Erekat continued, “he says that there is no longer a two-state solution when he sends an ambassador like David Friedman to the region… For God’s sake, what is going on?”

Erekat’s comments follow similar warnings made by Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour, who threatened to “make life miserable” for the United States at the United Nations if the embassy was moved, pointing out that such a decision would represent a violation of UN General Assembly Resolution 181 regarding the status of Jerusalem, and constitute “belligerency” towards Palestinians.