Palestinians to reject meeting with Trump as anger over Jerusalem rises 

As the Gaza death toll mounts, France and Turkey want the US president to change his mind over recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital

An Israeli mounted policeman dispersing Palestinian protesters in east Jerusalem.
 An Israeli mounted policeman dispersing Palestinian protesters in east Jerusalem. Photograph: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images

The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, is expected to reject an invitation to meetDonald Trump in Washington, amid a strong emerging consensus among key advisers that there are “no conditions” for dialogue following the US president’s formal recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

The issue of how best to respond to Trump’s announcement is at the centre of a series of emergency meetings of senior Palestinian leaders, which began on Saturday. They are expected to conclude early next week with a rare meeting of the PLO central council, and have already concluded that Abbas should not meet vice president Mike Pence when he visits Israel and Palestine just before Christmas.

Confirming the decision that Abbas would not meet Pence, the Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki said Palestinians would also seek votes on resolutions at the UN security council and Arab League. Although the US has a veto on the security council, support for drafting a resolution would be seen as pressuring the US.

The fraught Palestinian deliberations – which are taking place amid widespread Muslim and international anger over Trump’s unilateral move that broke international diplomatic consensus – come as Palestinian medical sources confirmed two members of Hamas had been killed in an Israeli air strike following a missile launch from Gaza, bringing the death toll in the last two days to four.

Despite widespread fury, however, the Palestinian leader has been caught between his anxiety to avoid an escalation of violence, amid calls by some for a new intifada – or uprising – and his need to make a meaningful response.

But in a boost for Abbas, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and France’s Emmanuel Macron agreed they would work together to try to persuade the United States to reconsider its decision, following a phone call focusing on the risks to stability in the region.

The conversation between Erdoğan and Macron followed hard on the heels of a meeting of the UN security council in which an isolated US struggled to defend accusations from European countries that its action was in breach of UN resolutions.

 

Source: Palestinians to reject meeting with Trump as anger over Jerusalem rises | World news | The Guardian

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