TEHRAN, December 13 - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told Arab and Islamic leaders on Wednesday that the United States is no longer fit to broker an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal and should be replaced as mediator by the United Nations.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - In his speech, Abbas said his people will no longer accept the United States as a peace broker but added that they remain committed to international resolutions which have formed the basis of the process.
Abbas was speaking at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit in istanbul that is expected to forge a unified Muslim world's stance against Trump's move on recognizing Jerusalem al-Quds as ‘capital’ of Israel.
Abbas said Trump's decision was a "crime" which came at a time when the Palestinians were engaged with Washington in a new push to reach what he said was anticipated to be the "deal of our times."
"Instead we got the slap of our times," Abbas said. "The United States has chosen to lose its qualification as a mediator ... We will no longer accept that it has a role in the political process from now."
Immediately after Trump's announcement last week, Abbas had said the U.S. effectively disqualified itself as a broker, but Wednesday's speech was more sharply worded and delivered to a global audience.
It was also part of a speech that called on the gathering for specific steps to counter the U.S. decision on Jerusalem.
"We call that the (peace) process in its entirety be transferred to the United Nations," Abbas said.
He also called on countries that believe in the two-state solutions to recognize Palestine as a state, and urged Arab and Muslim nations to financially support east Jerusalem.
In his over-an-hour-long speech, Abbas also urged Muslim nations and countries with relations with Israel to take necessary political and economic measures against Israel "to force it to abide by international consensus" to end its occupation of Palestinian territories, including east Jerusalem.
Last week, Abbas' aides said the Palestinian leader would not meet with Mike Pence during the U.S. vice president's planned visit to occupied lands and the West Bank next week.
The Istanbul gathering of heads of state and top officials from the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation was also an opportunity for the Muslim world to offer its strongest response yet to Washington's move.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan— the current president of the OIC — called on countries to urgently recognize the Palestinian state and Jerusalem as its capital.
Erdogan has been among the most vocal critics of Trump's announcement. In remarks to the summit, he said Israel is an "occupying state" and a "terror state."
King Abdullah II of Jordan told the gathering that the Trump decision was "grave", threatening the resumption of any peace talks.
Earlier, in opening remarks to a pre-summit meeting, Turkey's foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, told OIC foreign ministers that the U.S. decision aims to "legitimize Israel's attempt to occupy Jerusalem."
"They expect the Islamic nation to remain silent," he said. "But we will never be silent. This bullying eliminates the possibility of peace and the grounds for shared life. The U.S.' decision is null for us."
Source: AP
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