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Foreign ministers prepare resolutions for leaders’ endorsement

By Mohammad Ghazal , Dana Al Emam - Mar 28,2017 - Last updated at Mar 28,2017

DEAD SEA — Given revived US talks about relocating its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Jordan announced that Arab foreign ministers on Monday endorsed a resolution rejecting any unilateral decisions or measures that will affect the status of Jerusalem.

“The resolution, which will be referred to the leaders’ summit, will include the rejection of any unilateral decisions or measures that affect the historical and legal status of the Holy city,” Safadi told reporters Monday.

“We are meeting as Arab countries with a clear vision for the implementation of a comprehensive and permanent peace that must lead to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, and its capital is East Jerusalem,” the foreign minister stressed.

Israel has been pressing the US to relocate its embassy to Jerusalem for decades, an issue that Jordan and Arab states repeatedly objected to, warning of possibly dangerous consequences.

On Sunday, US Vice President Mike Pence revived talks over the possibility of relocating the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, saying President Donald Trump was “seriously considering the matter”, Reuters reported.

“After decades of simply talking about it, the president of the United States is giving serious consideration to moving the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem,” Pence said in a speech to the influential, pro-Israel US lobbying group the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, according to the news agency.

Several draft resolutions related to the Palestinian issue were agreed by the Arab foreign ministers. They will be referred to Arab leaders for endorsement at the summit on Wednesday, according to the minister.

“Peace and the two-state solution is a strategic option for Arab countries …  which guarantees the establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on the June 4, 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital,” Safadi said.

Additional issues, including water, Palestinian refugees and Jerusalem, among others, are to be decided through direct talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians, the ministers agreed.

Safadi noted that around seven resolutions will be adopted at the Arab summit.

“There is a coordinated pan-Arab effort that helps us advance our capabilities to deal with the great challenges facing us all … All decisions were endorsed by consensus and we, as foreign ministers, will refer the decisions to the leaders to take suitable decisions the day after tomorrow [Wednesday],” the minister said.

“We are looking forward to the leaders’ summit. All indicators are positive,” said Safadi. He stated his expectation of an “unprecedented” participation of leaders, which he said will prove leaders’ desire to work together and to coordinate a new era of collective, pan-Arab action.

“It is important to address challenges, yet, it is also important to find opportunities that allow us to move forward within a systematic methodology that can build a future of hope and achievement for all our peoples,” said Safadi.

Outlining the numerous challenges facing Arabs, he said: “The challenges of terror … occupation and the crises in Syria, Libya and Yemen, all lead to a decrease in the level of trust that people have in the regional Arab order, the Arab League, which is the major Arab regional institution that offers a forum for the Arab world,” said the minister.

 

“We will be working more collectively, more coherently and more systematically to remedy the crises that exist. We will be working to counter the challenge of terrorism, which we consider a threat to us Arabs and Muslims, more so than anybody else, because it has killed more of us than it did to any other group or nation,” Safadi stated. 

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