Abu Dhabi:Intellectuals and officials condemned the US President Donald Trump’s recognition of occupied Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and decision to move the US embassy to the city saying it will undermine world peace and security, the Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies forum heard in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
Dr Abbas Chowman, deputy of the Grand Imam of Al Azhar — the highest authority in Sunni Islamic thought and Islamic jurisprudence — said Trump’s move was null and void and a clear violation of international resolutions and that occupied Jerusalem was an inseparable part of Palestine even if embassies of all countries of the world were moved to it.
“Despite the US move, Al Quds (Jerusalem) will remain an Arab city as the capital of Palestine and will remain open for people of all faiths, and not only Muslims,” Chowman told the opening session of the forum, citing Trump’s move as an example of “irresponsible acts by many officials fomented hatred among peoples of the world”.
The fourth edition of the three-day event, which will run until December 13 at the St. Regis Hotel Abu Dhabi, tackles the topics of global peace and the fear of Islam.
Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, Indonesia’s Minister of Religious Affairs, said the unilateral declaration of occupied Jerusalem as capital of Israel will undermine world’s peace and security.
“The irresponsible US move will render futile all international efforts to combat terrorism, because it rewards a country which commits state terror against innocent Palestinians,” Saifuddin, also a politician and scholar, said.
Saifuddin said the Indonesian Government strongly condemned the Trump’s move, which violates all UN Security Council and General Assembly’s resolutions.
Dr Sardar Mohammad Yousuf, Pakistan’s Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, said Trump’s recognition of occupied Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and decision to move the US embassy to the city was a “flagrant aggression against the Palestinian people”.
Dr Abdul Fattah Al Awari, Dean of Islam’s Fundamentals at Al Azhar University, told Gulf News, the move is tantamount to forging of history by an irresponsible superpower.
“The move incited feelings of anger among all Muslims and jeopardised world peace,” Al Awari said, adding it will open the gates of hell across the world, in the West as well as the East.
Intellectuals and officials called upon the US Administration to reconsider what they condemned as faulty decision which may result in highly negative outcomes and to avoid uncalculated steps that will harm the multicultural identity and historical status of occupied Jerusalem.
Earlier, Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance, said it remains regrettably the case that contemporary perception — or the stereotype imaging — of Islam is dominated by misrepresentation and distortion that derive, by and large, from misunderstanding and ignorance.
Shaikh Nahyan hoped the forum will build the intellectual and social groundwork to enable Muslims and people of other faiths to coexist peacefully, which will be done through a select group of experts sharing their ideas and experiences. The Forum’s Executive Director Zeshan Zafar said “this convergence is critical to vaccinate against deconstructive ideological notions that threaten security and further conflagration in Muslim Societies, fuelling a vicious cycle of mutual fear and suspicion which fosters hatred, racism and exclusion”.
