RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories —
President Mahmoud Abbas stressed on Wednesday that Jerusalem, the capital of
the state of Palestine, is not for sale and that all Islamic and Christian holy
sites in Jerusalem are Palestinian, the Palestinian news agency, WAFA,
reported.
اضافة اعلان
In a speech delivered over the phone at the
conference “Property Documentation and the Historical Status of the Holy
Al-Aqsa Mosque”, which is being held at the headquarters of the
Red Crescent Society in the city of Al-Bireh, President Abbas stressed that “we will not
allow nor accept any changes to this legal and historical status quo (of
Al-Aqsa Mosque), regardless of the circumstances.”
He said that the conflict with Israel is political
not religous, stressing that “Jerusalem and Palestine are not for sale,” and
“we have foiled all suspicious projects to liquidate the Palestinian cause,
particularly the deal of the century.”
He added Palestinians and Jordanians are “in one
trench in defense of Jerusalem”, praising King Abdullah’s custodianship of
Christian and Islamic religious endowments.
In his concluding remarks, he drew attention back to
recently murdered Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, promising to not
forget the “martyrs”.
“We will hold on to our positions, our struggle, and
our popular resistance until the State of Palestine is established with
East Jerusalem as the eternal capital of the State of Palestine.”
Abbas’ presence at the conference comes at a
critical time, after rumors circulated last week about his health. The rumors
were instigated after a report on Twitter by the BBC Arabic claimed that Abbas’
close confidant, Hussein Al-Sheikh, had been entrusted with some of Abbas’
substantial duties due to his health condition. Sheikh took to Twitter to
vehemently deny the rumors, writing “there is no truth to the yellow news
circulating about the health of #President #Abbas ... what is being circulated
is an attempt at tampering with the internal #Palestinian situation”.
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