PLO and Fatah decry US threat to UN member states

By Zeynep Hilal Karyagdi

RAMALLAH, Palestine

Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and Fatah Thursday decried Trump’s threat to cut aid to countries that vote against his decision on Jerusalem.

Hanan Ashrawi, an executive member of the PLO, condemned the U.S. UN ambassador Nikki Haley’s letter to UN member diplomats that she threatened not to vote against the decision.

"Haley's threats will leave Washington administration alone," the statement said.

“We will not give up, we will not be afraid. We believe that the members of the UN General Assembly will protect their political and legal commitment to the Palestinian issue with an overwhelming majority,” it added.

Fatah, one of Palestine’s leading political movement, also denounced the threat.

Fatah spokesman Osama al-Qawasm described Trump’s threat as blackmailing and an attack to the sovereignty of the member states.

He also wished the world countries would stand against the threats of the U.S.

"They take hundreds of millions of dollars and even billions of dollars, and then they vote against us. Well, we’re watching those votes. Let them vote against us. We’ll save a lot. We don’t care,” Trump said Wednesday at the White House.

Less than two weeks after Washington moved to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and begin the process to move its embassy there from Tel Aviv -- the city where all other nations house their main diplomatic facilities in Israel -- the U.S. vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that rejected the establishment of diplomatic facilities in the contested city of Jerusalem.

All 14 other Security Council members voted in favor of the Egyptian-sponsored resolution before it was nixed by the U.S. veto. The Council episode could signal a lopsided general assembly vote should member states choose to ignore Trump's warning.

The full 193-member UN General Assembly will meet for a rare emergency special session regarding Trump's Dec. 6 decision. Unlike at the Security Council, the U.S. has no veto power in the assembly.

Jerusalem's status has long been considered a final issue to be determined by Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations and Trump's decision is widely seen as undercutting that long-standing understanding. East Jerusalem, which Palestinians are seeking to make the capital of their state, has been under Israeli occupation since 1967.