Malki calls on Australia not to change its position

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry called on Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday to reconsider statements he made regarding recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moving his country’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, stressing that such a move would be “in violation of international law and United Nations resolutions, particularly Security Council resolution 478 (1980)."

It expressed surprise in a statement at what it said was “the paradoxical logic” of the Australian prime minister who emphasizes adherence to the two-state solution and continues to encourage the parties to continue dialogue and negotiations toward a peace agreement, while considering recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

“How can Australia continue to encourage the Palestinian side while doing exactly the opposite when it declares its intention to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel?” it said. “Such a measure would encourage the Occupying Power to refuse to sit and negotiate with Palestine, which would keep us away from the possibility of achieving peace - the goal that Morrison talks about.”

It said that the contradiction in the statements of Morrison were obvious when he considered that recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moving the embassy to Jerusalem would help Australia to encourage the parties to move forward in negotiations, while considering that his country's rejection of the draft resolution at the UN General Assembly to recognize the authority of the Palestine delegation was done  to prevent failure of attempts to bring the parties together at the negotiating table.

“We do not understand how moving the embassy and recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel will preserve the peace process, while a vote at the General Assembly today rejecting the authority of the delegation of the State of Palestine only during its presidency of the group of 77+ China will undermine those opportunities?” it said.

“Commitment to the two-state solution means not taking any unilateral action that would undermine the status of Jerusalem, and Australia's commitment to the concept of a two-state solution is not abstract or a formality that has nothing to do with any other issue such as Jerusalem, borders, settlements, refugees, security or water, but is linked to the outcome of the negotiations on these issues, which are considered the final status issues after which and when reaching understandings regarding them, it will be possible to sign a peace agreement that allows the implementation of the two-state solution,” said the ministry addressing Morrison.

“When the Australian prime minister took Israel’s interests and the election campaign interests of his former ambassador to Israel, David Sharma, into consideration, he did not weigh the impact of this on his country's interests with the Arab and Islamic world, especially trade and economic interests, and ignored the votes of the Islamic and Arab communities in Australia while favoring the Jewish votes in David Sharma's district,” added the ministry statement.

It concluded by calling on Morrison to reconsider his statements which harm Australia's interests and its international standing, expressing hope that the Australian opposition, civil society organizations, the business sector and the Arab and Islamic communities would press the Australian government to reconsidered its position set by David Sharma before it becomes official.