Officials, organisations express support for King's ‘resolve’

AMMAN — The Lower House on Tuesday said it valued His Majesty King Abdullah’s decision to cancel his Monday visit to Romania after the Romanian prime minister announced that she wanted to move her country’s embassy to Jerusalem.

Several Palestinian and Jordanian figures, as well as national institutes, also on Tuesday voiced support of the King’s stand.

The Lower House’s Palestine Committee said the King’s decision reflected the Hashemite stance on the Palestinian cause and occupied Jerusalem, according to a statement carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

“The Royal position reflected Jordan’s clear role under Hashemite leadership in support of Palestinians at both the Arab and international levels,” the committee said.

King Abdullah sought to mobilise efforts to recover the Palestinian people’s rights and reject illegitimate decisions that oppose UN resolutions and international legitimacy, their statement added.

Head of the Senate’s Palestine Committee Senator Haya Qaralleh said that the Hashemite Custodianship over Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem has always had a big impact on protecting and preserving these sanctuaries over history, Petra reported.

Without it, Jerusalem would have lost its Arab and Christian identity, said Senator Sakher Dudin, head of the Senate’s Media and National Guidance Committee.

Senator Fida Hmoud, rapporteur of the Upper House’s Legal Panel, said Jordan is pushing against immense political and economic pressures. Still, the Kingdom stands determined to protect the Arab identity of Jerusalem and defend it by all means possible.

Secretary General of the Royal Committee for Jerusalem Affairs Abdullah Kanaan said the King’s stand expressed the position of all Arabs, Muslims and the free peoples of the world.

Other official and trade bodies have also made similar statements, while some have gone further, like the Amman Chamber of Commerce, backing their statements with action.

In an emergency meeting on Tuesday, the chamber’s board of directors decided not to receive any delegation from any country that decides to relocate its embassy to Jerusalem or that recognises the Holy City as the capital of Israel, according to Petra.

The spokesperson of the Palestinian Authority, Yousef Mahmoud and the Palestinian Shaab Party, Nasser Abu Jeish commended the King’s resolve.

Mahmoud told Petra in Ramallah that His Majesty’s position sends a strong message to all.

It was not a surprise, Abu Jeish said, urging all Arab leaders follow suit.

Political analyst and columnist Tahsin Yaqin and Palestinian Ambassador to Jordan Atallah Khairi also praised the cancellation decision.

His Majesty’s commitment to Jerusalem and the Palestinian issue echoes effectively on international and regional levels, Yaqin said.