Muslim bodies condemn US policy shift on Jerusalem

A number of prominent Muslim organisations, including the Jamat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (JUH), on Thursday condemned the US decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital and said the move will hamper a "comprehensive resolution" of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

JIH Vice President T. Arif Ali said the Trump administration's decision was "a clear violation of international law and UN Security Council resolutions, especially United Nations Security Council resolution (UNSCR) 478 of 1980".

"We are deeply concerned and deplore the US decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and shift the American embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem," he said.

"It would destabilise the region, create conflict, offend religious sensibilities of the world's 1.6 billion Muslims and delay a just and comprehensive resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," Ali said.

Condemning the US decision, JUH General Secretary Maulana Mahmood Madani termed it "highly provocative".

"This move will not only create unrest in the region but in entire Muslim community across the world. The US has not only ignored the international law but also ignored the international apprehensions on the issue. This move has also subverted the efforts to usher in peace in the region," Madani said.

"We also exhort the United Nations to convene an urgent meeting on the issue and protect the interest of the Palestinians, in keeping with its past rulings and conventions," he added.

Madani also exhorted the Arab world to "review" their diplomatic relations with the Unites States.

All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat President Naved Hamid said this "misadventure" by the US President Donald Trump needed to be condemned in the strongest words.

"The US is playing a dangerous game that would lead to unrest not just in the Middle East and West Asia but across the world. Being the place of the third holiest shrine of the Muslims -- Masjid Al-Aqsa -- Jerusalem holds a special sentimental value for the community," Hamid said.

On Wednesday, President Trump government recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and said it would move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The US would be the first and the only country so far in the world to do so.

Several past US Presidents insisted that the status of Jerusalem -- home to sites holy to the Jewish, Muslim and Christian religions -- must be decided through negotiations between the two sides.

Trump's policy reversal has drawn flak from leaders across the world with both German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron saying that their countries did not support the move and Canada asserting that its embassy would not move to Jerusalem.

--IANS

mak/nir