FRIDAY PROTESTS HELD ACROSS THE WORLD AGAINST TRUMP’S JERUSALEM DECISION
More
than a week after US President Donald Trump announced the decision to move the
US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, anger among Palestinians and their
supporters continues to grow.
After
Friday prayers concluded at the al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem,
hundreds of Palestinians took to the streets to demonstrate but were prevented
from entering the Old City by barricades put up by Israelis.
 |
| Anti-Trump protesters march during a demonstration in Berlin, Germany, December 15, 2017, against the US president’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Photo: Reuters |
Marches
also took place to the north in Ramallah and in Bethlehem, where protesters
faced off with Israeli soldiers.
In
Gaza, Palestinians took the territory's border with Israel to protest and were
met with live fire and tear gas.
Palestinian
officials told that at least 10 people had been injured through smoke
inhalation and gunshot wounds. At least one injured youth had suffered a
serious wound to his neck, according to Al Jazeera's Alan Fisher, who was
reporting from the area.
 |
| Jerusalem's old city was the site of clashes [Thomas Coex/AFP] |
Rallies
against Trump's decision also took place in the Indian city of Mumbai, the
Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, and the Japanese capital, Tokyo.
'Loud and unified response'
In East Jerusalem, Palestinian groups and a unified response by Muslim countries had
helped keep the protests going.
"There's
been a pretty loud and unified response that came from the delegates at the
Turkey conference on Tuesday, as well as that the Palestinian factions have
called for larger scale protests,"
 |
| A protester in the US city of Chicago on Thursday night [Scott Olson/Getty Images/AFP] |
The
US announcement attracted strong condemnation from Muslim countries, and the
57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) declared East Jerusalem the
capital of Palestine in response at its meeting in Istanbul.
Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed the move.
"The
truth will win in the end and many countries will certainly recognise Jerusalem
as the capital of Israel and also move their embassies," he said in
response to the OIC declaration.
In Bethlehem, protesters wanted to
see "words turned into action".
"They're
growing impatient...and some of the people you speak to do feel at some point
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a man who has dedicated 20 years of his
life to the peace process, might bow to international or US pressure."
 |
| Protests spread to the West Bank on Friday [Abbas Momani/AFP] |
Turkey
is launching an initiative at the United Nations to annul a decision by the
United States to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, President Tayyip
Erdogan said today.
Erdogan
was speaking two days after a Muslim leader meeting in Istanbul condemned US
President Donald Trump's decision, calling on the world to respond by recognizing
East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine.
“We
will work for the annulment of this unjust decision firstly at the UN Security
Council, and if a veto comes from there, the General Assembly,” Erdogan told
crowds gathered in the central Anatolian city of Konya via teleconference.
The
United States is a permanent Security Council member with veto powers, meaning
any move to overturn Washington's decision at the council would certainly be
blocked.
Jerusalem,
revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims alike, is home to Islam's third holiest
site and has been at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for decades.
Israel captured Arab East Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed it in an action not
recognized internationally.
About
10,000 people in Bangladesh gathered in front of the main mosque in the
capital, Dhaka also several mosque across the country lot of people are gathered after Friday Prayer to protest against the US decision to recognise Jerusalem as
Israel's capital.
“Down
with America, down with Israel and no to Israel occupation,” chanted protesters
in the cities of all over the Bangladesh .
Earlier
on Friday, Malaysian opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan handed over a
memorandum of protest to the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur against the
proclamation of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
The
crowd chanted, “Long Live Palestine! Long Live Islam”, as they marched down one
of the city’s busiest roads, bringing traffic to a standstill.
Banners
with the words, “Down to USA’s President Trump” and “Destroy Zionists” were
held up as Umno Youth leader Khairy Jamaluddin roused the crowd.
“Mr
President, this is an illegal announcement. Jerusalem is an occupied
territory,” said the Youth and Sports Minister, addressing Mr Trump. “You must
not even step foot into Jerusalem and make that the capital of Israel.”
News source : News website
No comments