Mohammed Mar'i Saudi Gazette RAMALLAH – The Palestinians Friday condemned the US Democratic Party's decision to reinstate Jerusalem as the capital of Israel on party platform. The Democratic Party amended its 2012 platform Wednesday to include language supporting Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Israeli media said that the last-minute change came in the wake of mounting criticism from Democratic members of Congress incensed that the 2008 platform's declaration backing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, along with language referring to the isolation of Hamas until it renounces terror, and a third provision calling for the settlement of Palestinian refugees in a future Palestinian state, had been removed from the 2012 text. The 2008 platform had expressly said that “Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel". Yasser Abed Rabbo, Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization's Executive Committee, told the Voice of Palestine Radio that the decision “a dangerous departure from traditional US policy not to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel." Abed Rabbo added that “the rights of Palestinians should not stand in competition between the parties in the US to gain the votes of American Jews." He added that move “harms the comprehensive peace in the region." Jerusalem “was and still the key for peace, security and stability in the entire region," the PLO's official said. In the mid 1990s, the US Congress passed the “Jerusalem Embassy Act" stating that “Jerusalem should be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel; and the United States Embassy in Israel should be established in Jerusalem." The act was adopted by the Senate and the House. But the law also permits the president to delay the move for six-month periods, based on national security grounds. Current US President Barack Obama and former Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush used their authorities to suspend the relocation, citing national security concerns. The US administrations used to say that that US policy on Jerusalem is unchanged, and that the city is a final-status issue to be resolved within the framework of peace talks. The Hamas movement slammed the decision. Izzat Al-Risheq, a member of the Hamas politburo, was quoted by the movement's official website as saying that the reinsertion of language declaring Jerusalem as the capital of Israel into the party platform was “stupid begging for Jewish votes at the expense of Palestinian rights." Al-Risheq added that “Jerusalem was and will be the eternal capital of Palestine, and of Arab and Muslim nations." Meanwhile, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine condemned the use of Jerusalem “in competition for the Jewish vote between the two main sides of the American election." The leftist Palestinian movement said in a statement that the United States sought to “judge and decide other people's rights, belongings and holy sites." On Thursday, the Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin said that the addition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital to the party's platform does not make up for its original intentions. “I have no doubt that (US President Barack) Obama put Jerusalem back in his party's platform out of political and electoral considerations and because of the sharp criticism from Israel and the US," Rivlin, of the ruling Likud party, told Israel's Radio. The Likud member added party did not remove Jerusalem from the platform “by mistake or because of forgetfulness." “This is a problematic sign, indicating the gradual reduction of the American government's strategic commitment to Israel," Rivlin explained.
