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PA president reiterates demand to reopen US Consulate in occupied Jerusalem

July 1, 2022 at 2:47 pm

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, West Bank on 6 February 2022 [Palestinian Presidency/Anadolu Agency]

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has reiterated his demand for the United States to reopen its Consulate in occupied East Jerusalem, and to remove the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) from the US terror list.

This came in a call between Abbas and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday ahead of President Joe Biden’s visit to Palestine and the region.

During the call, Abbas said he hoped Biden’s visit would contribute to strengthening bilateral relations, paving the way for creating a political horizon that would achieve a just and comprehensive peace based on the foundations of international legitimacy, and the two-state solution, by ending the Israeli occupation of Palestine territories including East Jerusalem.

Abbas also hoped the visit would help achieve the two-state solution, stop Israeli settlement expansion, prevent the expulsion of Palestinians from Jerusalem, preserve the historical status of Al-Aqsa Mosque and lead to the reopening of the US Consulate in East Jerusalem, as well as the removal of the Palestine Liberation Organisation from the list of terrorism.

Abbas added that all unilateral actions and all aggressive Israeli practices against the Palestinian people, their land and their holy sites must stop, especially the incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque and the prevention of freedom of worship in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the repeated incursions into the Palestinian cities, villages and camps, and the intentional killing of defenseless citizens, demolition of their homes, and the stifling of the Palestinian economy and withholding of Palestinian tax revenues.

He added that the situation on the ground cannot be tolerated.

For his part, Blinken spoke of Biden’s aspiration to visit the region and meet Abbas, to strengthen bilateral relations and find the best ways to support the two-state solution, and urged Israel to improve conditions and make tangible progress at all levels.

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