Meetings of foreign ministers participating in the Arab Ministerial Meeting to discuss the repercussions of the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel were concluded in Amman today. The ministers discussed during the meeting the best ways to counter the repercussions of the US decision which contravenes resolutions of international legitimacy and the need to intensify efforts for a political solution to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. The seriousness of the American decision was emphasized in light of the historic and religious status of Jerusalem, the statement said. The ministers stressed the centrality of Jerusalem as a key issue for the Arabs; it is the key to peace in the region and there will be no security, stability or security in the region without a solution that guarantees the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the lines of June 4, 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital. The ministers decided to form a delegation to work with the international community and international institutions to limit the negative consequences of the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to confront its effects and to show its gravity in light of the national, historical and religious status of Jerusalem among Muslims and Christians throughout the Arab and Islamic worlds. The statement said that the committee will work with the international community to launch an effective and systematic effort to pressure Israel to abide by the resolutions of international legitimacy and stop all unilateral steps aimed at imposing new facts on the ground, especially building settlements and confiscating land and attempts to expel from Jerusalem its Muslim and Christian Arab population and to work with the international community to find a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. The statement stressed the position of the Arab League and the Arab States on this decision is clear, that it constitutes a violation of international law and legitimacy, has no legal effect and that the Arab countries will work in this context, and this is a clear and unanimous position of the Arab countries that Jerusalem is an issue of paramount priority over any other issue in the Arab, Islamic and Christian worlds. It added that during the meeting, they stressed the importance of continuing to work with the international community to reject the decision and to show its seriousness and to emphasize its illegality and the absence of any legal effect of it. It pointed out that the Arab ministers will continue to take legal and political measures to limit the consequences of the decision and to demonstrate its seriousness and face all illegal Israeli actions on the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem. The statement pointed out that the decision of the Israeli Knesset to change the Basic Law making the negotiation of Jerusalem conditional on two thirds of the members of the Knesset, which is unacceptable because we do not recognize any Israeli decision on Jerusalem because it is an occupied land under international law. It also referred to the decision of the ruling party in Israel to impose Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank and settlements, and this is what we reject and affirm that it represents a violation of all international laws and conventions.
