Palestinians move against Trump’s US embassy transfer

Mohammad Shtayyeh, a senior Palestinian official and Fatah central committee member, called for prayers at mosques throughout the Middle East on Friday as well as for churches to ring their bells in protest on Sunday.

“I think and we all think that moving the embassy to Jerusalem is a dangerous step that will have dangerous consequences for the political track for our people and for our future aspirations and for the Muslim, Arab, Christian countries and people all over the world,” Shtayyeh told journalists in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Tuesday.

“We are not inciting violence. Ringing a church bell… is not a violent act. Calling for a prayer is not a violent act.”

Shtayyeh, who was speaking on behalf of the Palestinian leadership, said doing so would mean an “end to the two-state solution.”

The Palestinian leadership had been informed by diplomatic contacts that Trump could call for the move in his inauguration speech on January 20, Shtayyeh said.