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Abbas: Jerusalem is gate to peace or war, Trump will choose

Abbas’ anti-US tirade included a direct challenge to the leader of the US, anouncing that Jerusalem is “the gate for peace and war and President Trump must choose between the two.”

By: Aryeh Savir, World Israel News

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas again openly challenged the US and President Donald Trump, saying his decision to recognize contested Jerusalem as Israel’s capital was “sinful” and “ill-fated.”

In comments he made in a speech addressing the Al-Azhar International Conference in Support of Jerusalem in Cairo on Wednesday, Abbas claimed that the Palestinians are still seeking peace and will “use all the available options, but not violence or terrorism,” to achieve it.

While Abbas did not clarify what “available options” he was relating to, he has threatened to pursue Palestinian statehood through international forums and the International Criminal Court (ICC), while continuing efforts to gain full membership in the United Nations as well as continued efforts to join hundreds of conventions and agreements.

Such a move would consist of a blatant breach of the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords.

“We will not trust the American administration which is no longer suitable for the role of mediator of the peace process. We will adhere to peace, but peace shall not be at any cost, and we will seek all options but not terrorism and violence,” Abbas told the conference.

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He added that the announcement by Trump to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel “would not give Israel any legitimacy … America chose to violate international law and defy the will of the Arab and Islamic peoples and the world to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the Israeli occupation.”

Abbas called upon the Muslim and Arab countries to take practical steps to “compel Israel to stop its violations against the holy city of Jerusalem,” while encouraging Arabs and Muslims to visit Jerusalem as a token of support for the city.

Such a move would surely benefit Israel’s tourism industry and economy.

“We are in the midst of major challenges and in the face of a major conspiracy aimed at Jerusalem,” Abbas told a crowd of Muslims and Christian clerics at Al-Azhar, the primary seat of learning for the world’s Sunni Muslims.

“Jerusalem will be a gate for peace only if it is Palestine’s capital, and it will be a gate of war, fear and the absence of security and stability, if it is not,” Abbas said. “It’s the gate for peace and war and President Trump must choose between the two.”

Earlier this week, Abbas, openly cursed Trump by wishing that his “house will be destroyed.”