The Palestinian MFA issued an appeal Tuesday to the UN Security Council to protect the people of Arab areas from violence by Jewish extremist organizations. A statement from Ramallah, reported by the WAFA news agency, pointed to the dangerous consequences of a May 29 provocation by Jewish settlers on the grounds of Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque.
"Members of extremist organizations shouted slogans hostile to Arabs and called for the burning of Palestinian villages and neighborhoods during a march under the protection of Israeli police," the document stressed. The Palestinian MFA calls on the international community "not to ignore the fact that aggressive Zionist ideology is spreading in the illegally established Jewish settlements in the West Bank."
"We call on the UN to include Jewish extremist organizations on the list of terrorist groups and ban their activities in the Palestinian territories," the Ramallah foreign ministry said in a statement. - "Escalating attacks by the occupation forces on defenseless Arab citizens and repeated attacks on the Islamic shrine of Al-Aqsa are tantamount to war crimes."
On May 30, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh called on the US to remove the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from the list of terrorist organizations and consider it a partner in the peace process. According to him, "the PLO is still listed as a terrorist organization, despite reciprocal visits by American and Palestinian leaders". The PLO is recognized by the international community as the only legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.
On May 29, more than 1,000 Jewish settlers held a procession with Israeli flags in Jerusalem's Old City. The action was timed for Jerusalem Day on Sunday, which commemorates the city's unification under Israeli rule as a result of the Six Day War in 1967. Security for the march was provided by 3,000 police officers.
The status of Jerusalem is one of the key issues in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The Israelis occupied the eastern Arab part of the city during the 1967 war. They insist that Jerusalem is the "one and indivisible" capital of Israel. The Palestinian side seeks to make the eastern part of the city the capital of its independent state.
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Based on materials from TASS