US embassy move could be ‘catastrophic’, women’s organisations warn

AMMAN — Jordanian women’s organisations and civil society on Tuesday issued a statement expressing their concern over possible plans to relocate the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

US President Donald Trump’s administration has been pushing ahead with plans to move the US embassy, a step seen by many as harming the chance of a two-state solution.

The statement, which was issued on the occasion of International Women’s Day, said that “the threat of relocating the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem continues to loom over the region after the new US administration voiced its intentions to make good on its campaign promise”.

Such a move would have “catastrophic implications for the future of the Palestinian cause, as well as the religious and political status of the city of Jerusalem, the historic capital of Palestine, and Hashemite custodianship of the holy shrines”, according to the statement. 

The statement stresses that the decision to relocate the US embassy to Jerusalem would be “a biased position by the US administration, which turns a blind eye to Israel’s continuous aggression and total disregard for Palestinian national and human rights”.

It added: “This decision is... a blatant violation of international law regarding the status of Jerusalem, the inalienable right of return for Palestinians and their right to establish an independent state on their national soil.”

The continuation of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land remains the main threat to the national interests of the people of Palestine and the Arab world as a whole, added the statement. 

Therefore, “we call on Arab organisations — both official and civil — to take a firm and clear stand against the policy of aggression displayed by Israel and supported by the US”.

The statement concluded by calling on the Arab summit, scheduled to be held in Jordan later this month, to issue a strong and clear statement to reject relocating the US embassy to Jerusalem, and reject the “consistent Israeli practices aiming at Judaising the city and emptying it of its Arab population”.