PLO urges world to boycott Jerusalem U.S. embassy opening

RAMALLAH, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Saeb Erekat on Monday urged the international community to boycott the opening of the U.S. embassy in Israel in Jerusalem next week.

"As Washington pursues a policy of encouragement of international anarchy and disregards organizations and international law, we call upon all diplomatic corps, civil society organizations and religious authorities to boycott the inauguration ceremony of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, lest they lend legitimacy to an illegal decision and to continued Israeli policies of occupation, colonization, and annexation," Erekat said in a statement.

The PLO official said that "those who attend the ceremony will send an ominous message, a message that encourages flagrant violations of international law and the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people."

Israeli media reports said two days ago that the U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman sent invitations for the opening ceremony of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem on May 14, which marks the 70th anniversary of Israel's declaration of independence and comes one day ahead of Palestinians' Nakba Day, or "the Day of Catastrophe."

U.S. President Donald Trump said he might attend the ceremony.

The ties between Palestine and the U.S. have been witnessing rising tensions since last October, and reached a prime when U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and ordered to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem on Dec. 6, 2017.

On February 20, Palestinian President Abbas presented a peace initiative in a speech before the UN Security Council, proposing to hold an international peace conference in mid-2018 to jumpstart final status negotiation based on two-state solution and international legitimacy resolutions. Enditem