Cairo: A major conference held in support of Jerusalem warned Thursday evening that US President Donald Trump’s decision recognising the holy city as Israel’s capital will fuel militancy in the world.
“This decision, unless immediately withdrawn, will feed violent extremism and spread it all over the world,” according to the conference that Al Azhar, Sunni Islam’s influential centre of learning, hosted in Cairo for two days.
Last month, Trump announced a plan to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, sparking protests in the Arab and Islamic worlds.
Participants in the Al Azhar International Conference in Support of Jerusalem said that the issue of Jerusalem is an Islamic-Christian issue.
They pledged unqualified support for Palestinians, who want Eastern Jerusalem to be the capital of their future state.
“The conference calls on governments of the Islamic world, the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the United Nations, and the civil society groups to make swift and serious moves in order to stop the US administrations decisions and create a global public opinion opposed to these unjust policies,” the participants said in a final statement that Grand Imam of Al Azhar, Shaikh Ahmad Al Tayyib, read out at the end of the forum.
The conference approved a proposal made by Shaikh Al Tayyib designating 2018 as the year of Jerusalem. The participants also backed an initiative by Al Azhar to teach a syllabus on Jerusalem to its students and urged educational institutions mainly in Arab and Muslim countries to follow its example.
Scholars and clerics from 86 countries attended the conference, which Al Azhar held in conjunction with the Muslim Council of Elders based in the UAE.
