Palestinians blast US announcement to move embassy to Jerusalem on eve of Nakba Day

RAMALLAH -- A senior official of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) said Saturday that the US decision to move embassy to Jerusalem on eve of Nakba Day has end Palestinians' trust in the United States in sponsoring the peace deal.

"If there is any illusion by Palestinians that the United States would play any practical role in the peace process, then the US declaration has ended this illusion," said Elias Zananiri, vice chairperson of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) committee for interaction with the Israeli society.

On Friday, two US state departments said that its embassy will move to Jerusalem in mid May to coincide with the 70th anniversary of Israel's Independence Day.

Zananiri said the choice of date of relocation coincides with the eve of Palestinian Nakba day and the 70th anniversary for the establishment of state of Israel, which is clearly a defiance to Palestinians both politically and emotionally.

Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the PLO, said Friday night that this decision "disqualified the United States from being part of the peace process between the Israelis and the Palestinians."

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' spokesperson, stressed Friday that any unilateral steps do not contribute to peace and does not give legitimacy to anyone.

Reiterating the Palestinian commitment to the two-state solution, Rudeinah warned that "any steps inconsistent with international legality would impede the efforts to achieve settlement in the region and would create negative and harmful climates."

Palestinian People's Party (PPP) condemned earlier in an emailed statement the US declaration on Friday and described it as a "flagrant provocation to the sentiments of the Palestinian people, the Arab and Islamic worlds as well as all free men in the world."

The PPP also affirmed its rejection to US sponsorship of the peace deal.

Secretary General of the Palestinian Initiative Party Mustafa Barghouti denounced the announcement and urged the "PLO and Palestinian Authority (PA) to respond to this decision immediately by implementing the Palestinian Central Council decision."

Islamic Hamas movement spokesperson Abdellatif Al-Qanou's said that "the US step would blast the region in Israel's face and will not give it any legitimacy."

Al-Qanou's considered the US decision a breach of international law and said that it defies all international resolutions concerning Jerusalem."

The latest round of US-sponsored negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel was after nine months of talks without achieving any breakthrough.

On Dec 6, 2017, almost one year after Trump took office, he recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital and ordered the US state department to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to the city.

As a result, Palestinians disqualified the United States from being the sole sponsor of the peace negotiations with Israel and called for a multilateral peace mechanism.

On Feb 20, Abbas presented a peace initiative in a speech before the UN Security Council, proposing to hold an International peace conference in mid-2018 to jumpstart final status negotiation based on two-state solution and international legitimacy resolutions.