The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Secretary Saeb Erekat on Tuesday threatened that the Palestinian Authority would pursue the US administration and anyone who joined its unilateral policy on Jerusalem legally and internationally, calling for a collective international effort to resolve the issue. Palestinian Authority.
Erekat said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua, "We will pursue the US administration and anyone who joined its unilateral policy on the transfer of its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and recognize it as the capital of Israel legally and internationally."
Erekat added that `` Palestine filed a lawsuit against Washington before the International Court of Justice to move its embassy to occupied Jerusalem in September last year, and presented its case in May 2019, and we are still waiting for the US response in November. ´´
He pointed out that "Palestine as a first step filed a complaint against Honduras with the Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres to open an official diplomatic mission in Jerusalem recently."
He added that the Palestinian side called on all countries and international organizations, the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to condemn the illegal move and sever diplomatic, political and trade relations with these countries, stressing that "Palestine will take all legal procedures to follow up on these violations."
Erekat called on the international community to "hold all countries that transfer their embassies to Jerusalem, violate international law and impose sanctions, and sever political, commercial and diplomatic relations with them, including with the United States, Honduras, Nauru and Guatemala."
Erekat said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu´s pledges to apply Israeli sovereignty to West Bank settlements were "illegal and de facto imposed by the occupation authority on the ground."
He said that the application of Israel´s sovereignty over settlements is part of a complex and comprehensive colonial system that began with the occupation in 1967 and directed the Israeli Knesset to a Basic Law in 1980 to annex Jerusalem, and continued until the racist (national) law and other measures contrary to international law.
Erekat added that the Palestinian side called on all countries of the world to "confront the plans of annexation, and to confront any future Israeli government implementing this program or parts of it, and take the maximum measures of accountability and impose sanctions against them, as they violate the principles of international law and UN resolutions."
He said that the move "poses a challenge and a test for states not to allow the passage of the Israeli plan in return for its principles, values ​​and adherence to international law, pointing out that the Palestinian side will continue its moves in international forums to refuse annexation of the West Bank or parts of it, or through the application of Israeli law to Israeli settlements."
`` Israel, the occupying Power, believes that the time has come to implement the project (Greater Israel) in the land of historic Palestine, especially as it is well timed to receive the absolute support of the Trump administration, which is consistent with the ideology of Netanyahu and his extreme right-wing program. ´´
Erekat said that "the delay of the International Criminal Court in the opening of a criminal investigation into Israel´s practices in the Palestinian territories because of US pressure exerted, including public threats by the US administration against the judges of the Court, which it accused of being" illegal. "
He said, "The Court is a tool for international accountability and justice, pointing out that the Office of the Prosecutor is overwhelmed with hundreds of reports, statements and complaints by the State of Palestine, human rights institutions and international institutions on violations and war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the occupation authority against the Palestinian people and their land."
Erekat continued, `` We do not provide an opportunity to renew our request to the court to expedite the opening of the criminal investigation, lift the immunity of Israeli war criminals, and ensure that they do not go unpunished, and remind them that every delay in bringing war criminals to justice costs our people and their blood for that. ´´
