Jerusalem issue: Unanimous Senate condemnation

ISLAMABAD: The Senate on Monday adopted a unanimous resolution and strongly condemned and rejected US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel, saying it exposed America’s ‘so-called position of an independent peace broker’ across the globe.

The Senators were of the view that a march to US Embassy should be arranged to lodge protest against the US president’s announcement.

The resolution moved by Leader of the House in the Senate Raja Muhammad Zafarul Haq which was unanimously adopted. It stated that Senate of Pakistan strongly condemned and rejected unilateral announcement by Donald Trump to shift the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem as it was a flagrant violation of the international law, UN Security Council Resolutions specially Resolution Nos 478 (1980) and 2334 (2016) and international norms.

The Senators in their speeches, expressed that the imperialist powers were again active to further destabilise the world, sell their weapons, weaken the Muslim nations and strengthen their own economies.

The House expressed its serious concern over the implications of this decision for international peace and security, especially in the Middle East. The House called upon the United Nations Security Council to take cognizance of this situation and take steps in accordance with the UN Charter and a number of its own Resolutions according to which establishment of settlements by Israel in the Palestinian territory, occupied since 1967 including East Jerusalem, had no legal validity. The Senate declared that the position taken by the US President had exposed the so-called position of the United States as of independent peace broker and put a halt to the peace talks.

It urged the United States to revisit its decision as soon as possible in order to avoid the potentially grave repercussions in the region and beyond and to play its role in de-escalating the situation on the ground on the basis of international law, international humanitarian law and the previous agreements and obligations.

The Senate declared that all the revealed religions i.e. Judaism, Christianity and Islam claim their affiliation with the holy city of Jerusalem, however, the US President Trump through his announcement had tried to nullify the religious diversity present in the territory.

The resolution reiterated that any attempt to sabotage the peace process would be the darkest decision of the history and historical wrongs could never be lasting.

The resolution appreciated that the international community had rejected this position taken by the US president, which had resulted in an isolated United States of America at the international front.

It condemned the killings of innocent citizens by the Israeli forces which proved that the US decision was an aggression, a declaration of war on the Palestinians.