BICOM

Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas confirmed he will apply for UN membership at a pan-Islamic summit in Turkey yesterday.

The 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) held an extraordinary summit following US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital last week. The summit’s final statement expressed full solidarity with Palestine and “rejected and condemned in the strongest terms the unilateral decision by the President of the US recognising Al-Quds as the so-called capital of Israel”.

President Abbas said to the delegates that Trump’s declaration and his instruction to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem were “gross violations of international law and the UN Security Council. The US surprised us while we were in the midst of a political process for a peace agreement. Instead of the deal of the century, we’ve been given the slap of the century”.

“We will tell the Israelis that we are no longer committed to any agreement from Oslo until today,” he threatened, asserting that the PA intended to return to the UN to apply for full membership. He also said that the US had disqualified itself as a mediator in the peace process.

In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “The Palestinians would be better served by recognising reality and working for peace and not for extremism. Not only is Jerusalem the capital of Israel. We also safeguard in it freedom of worship for all religions. The truth will ultimately prevail.”

The Istanbul summit was attended by more than 20 heads of state, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, King Abdullah II of Jordan, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Lebanese President Michel Aoun.

Erdogan described Israel as a “terrorist state” and condemned its methods for suppressing Palestinian riots. Erdogan called on Muslims from around the world to visit the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City.

King Abdullah II of Jordan said: “All of the violence is the result of the failure to find a solution to the Palestinian problem. Every change and attempt to Judaise Jerusalem will lead to violence.”

In another sign of a hardening Palestinian stance, Abbas aides said earlier this week that he would not meet with US Vice President Mike Pence during the latter’s visit to the Middle East next week. Abbas was initially scheduled to host Pence in Bethlehem.