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Jerusalem Affairs Committee praises US Ambassador’s decision to not visit settlements

By JT - Jan 17,2022 - Last updated at Jan 17,2022

A picture taken in October, 2021, from the West Bank city of Hebron shows a general view of the nearby Israeli settlement of Givat Harsina (AFP photo)

AMMAN — Secretary General of the Royal Committee for Jerusalem Affairs Abdullah Kanaan on Monday praised US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides’s stance to not visit Israeli settlements.

Kanaan also said that the daily Israeli attacks and violations on the Palestinian people, including the settlement expansion on Palestinian territories, pose a threat to the international laws and legitimacy and their endeavours to realise peace and security in the entire region, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

The secretary general referred to the colonial plans to establish settlements in Jerusalem and Palestine and the confiscation of thousands of dunums with fake contracts in favour of Israel companies.

As part of efforts to realise peace, the US ambassador made a “brave decision” to reject the invitation to visit the settlements, stressing their illegality, Kanaan said.

He added that the Nides’s stance embodies in a practical and balanced way the US position towards peace and solving the Palestinian issue,from a point of view of the US President Joe Biden administration that embraces the two-state solution and supporting Palestinian institutions.

The secretary general also referred to the US endeavours to reopen the US consulate in Jerusalem, to recover political and economic conditions in Palestine, and to bring hope for reaching a solution to the long conflict and end the occupation. 

He also said that the committee highly praises the important diplomatic stance of the ambassador, especially after the former US administration was biased towards Israel and was about to fuel tensions in the entire region due to its decisions and proposals suggested byformer president Donald Trump.

Kanaan referred to some of the decisions of the former US administration, such as recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, moving the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, and reducing UNRWA support. 

The secretary general considered Nides’s step as a favour in pushing the peace process forward, expressing hope to be followed by other steps that retrieve the historic rights of the Palestinian people, at the top of which are the right of return and establishment of a Palestinian state.

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