By Hajer M'tiri, Islamuddin Sajid
PARIS
The U.S. can no longer play a mediating role in the Middle East peace process, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Friday after talks with his French counterpart in Paris.
Speaking at a joint news conference, Abbas and Emmanuel Macron welcomed Thursday's UN vote against the U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
The vote saw 128 countries describe the U.S. decision as “null and void”. Nine countries voted against. The UN General Assembly vote was preceded by U.S. threats to withdraw aid from countries and cut backing for the UN.
"Following Trump's decision to move the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, the United States is no longer an honest mediator in the peace process. We will not accept any plans from the United States because of [this] partisan spirit and this violation of international law," Abbas said.
"The United States has excluded itself from the political process of peace," he added.
The French leader said the U.S. has "marginalized itself in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict".
Unlike former Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who expressed his wish in November 2014 that France recognizes "without delay" the state of Palestine in case of failure of the French initiative to revive the peace process, Macron has repeatedly he is against such an approach.
"There is no alternative to the solution of the two states, and no solution of the two states without agreement between the parties on Jerusalem," Macron said.
"I asked the Israeli prime minister to resume negotiations and stop the colonization."
The French president said he will be visiting Palestine and Israel next year in a bid to give a boost to peace talks.
Pakistan welcomes UN vote against US Jerusalem decision
Lawmakers on Friday backed Pakistan’s decision to vote against the U.S. recognition of Jerusalem in a UN vote.
Nuzhat Sadiq, , praised the government’s bold stance in rejecting U.S. President Donald Trump’s new policy by voting for a resolution declaring it “null and void”.
“Pakistan welcome and all the states who raised their voice against the U.S.’s illegal decision,” Nuzhat said.
Pakistan is a traditional U.S. ally in the Muslim world but was one of 128 to vote for the nonbinding resolution sponsored by Turkey and Yemen.
Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua told the committee: “Pakistan has rejected the Trump administration’s decision and we stand with our Palestinian brothers and sisters.”
The vote dominated Friday morning’s newspapers, with the English-language Express Tribune declaring the decision a “Victory for Palestine”.
Nawai Waqat, a leading Urdu newspaper, said the UN General Assembly vote saw the world reject Trump’s threats and stand with Palestinian people.
Prior to the vote, Washington had threatened to withdraw aid from countries that approved the resolution.
Sirajul Haq, the head of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, praised those who “rejected the U.S. threats and stand with the depressed people of Palestine”.
Apart from the U.S. and Israel, seven nations opposed the motion although 35 of the 193 UN member states abstained and 21 were absent from the vote.
On Monday, the U.S. vetoed a Security Council resolution backed by the 14 other council members calling on Trump to reverse his Jerusalem declaration.
