Interview: Trump's decision on Jerusalem destroys peace process in Middle East: Palestinian ambassador

BEIJING, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital city of Israel is a betrayal of the Palestinians and the efforts to bring peace between Israel and Palestine, Palestine Ambassador Frizz Mahedavi to China said here on Friday.

Mahedavi made the remarks after an seminar held in Peking University to mark the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, a UN-organized observance held annually on Nov. 29 to draw international attention to the unresolved Palestinian cause.

"Trump took a stand last week to reward the occupier by giving them another declaration similar, if not worse, to that of Balfour. It is a dangerous step, we will never accept it," Mahedavi told Xinhua in an interview.

Balfour Declaration is a public statement issued by Britain during the World War I announcing its support to the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine.

Trump's decision on Jerusalem contradicts international law and UN resolutions, said the ambassador. "He is smashing the peace process, but this will not have any impact on Jerusalem's juridical status," he added.

Balfour Occupation is a stumbling block in the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, Mahedavi said, reiterating the Palestinian stance that Israeli withdraw from the occupied Palestinian land first.

During the Third Arab-Israeli War in 1967, Israel captured the eastern part of Jerusalem and claimed unilaterally both East and West Jerusalem under its sovereignty and civil law. Since then, Israel has built housing complexes known as "settlements" in the region in an attempt to change the demographic makeup.

"There will be no sovereign state of Palestine without East Jerusalem as its capital," Mahedavi said.

The Palestinians have been pursuing the establishment of an independent state with full sovereignty on the basis of the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Mahedavi said Israel is like a spoiled child of the United States. "True friends should tell truth, not let the other act willfully," he said.

Mahedavi thanked China for its continuous support for the Palestinians in diplomatic, political and other fields, and its humanitarian assistance to them over the past more than 50 years.

"China is a big weight of sense of responsibility, and its four-point proposition is welcome. Chinese President Xi Jinping is a leader who walks the talk," he said while expressing the hope to expand cooperation with China in such sectors as economy, investment and tourism, and to learn from China's experience in sustainable development.

The "four-point proposition" was put forward by Xi in July during a meeting with his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas in Beijing.

The proposition calls for advancing political settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian issue on the basis of the two-state solution, upholding a common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security concept, further coordinating and strengthening the concerted efforts for peace, and promoting peace with development.

The ambassador also called upon the international community to release a strong signal to Israel and the United States to support the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. Enditem