The PCP strongly condemns the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel today announced by the US President, a decision that represents explicit US support for Israel's Zionist policy and a frontal aggression on the martyred Palestinian people and provocation of the Arab peoples, with dangerous and unpredictable consequences.
The PCP considers this decision – which is associated with the announced transfer of the US Embassy to Jerusalem – which is all the more serious when it is taken at a time when plans for a new military escalation in the region are becoming increasingly clear with the danger of an enormous confrontation, with consequences far beyond the Middle East.
The PCP considers that the Portuguese Government should- in respect to the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic and the decisions adopted by the Assembly of the Republic concerning the recognition of the right of the Palestinian people to the construction of the State of Palestine, on the pre- 1967 borders and with capital in East Jerusalem – unequivocally condemn the decision now taken by the US administration.
The US Administration's decision – which openly violates International Law and numerous UN Security Council resolutions on the status of Jerusalem, starting with Resolution 478 that explicitly determines the withdrawal of the diplomatic missions from that city, as well as Resolution 2334 of December, 2016, which, condemning the continued expansion of Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory, reiterates that the status of Jerusalem can only be settled by way of negotiation – constitutes a new and serious obstacle to the necessary negotiated settlement of the Palestinian question and highlights the hypocritical role of the United States regarding the just resolution of the conflict.
The decision now taken cannot be separated from the US Administration's measures to sabotage the nuclear agreement with Iran; from Israeli military aggressions on Syrian territory; from the announcements of the constitution of a “NATO of the Middle East” aimed at Iran and involving dictatorships of the Gulf; from the conflicts instigated by Saudi Arabia, a historical ally of the USA, against Yemen and other countries of the region; the upsurge of terrorist attacks in countries like Egypt; from the persistent declarations by Israeli leaders threatening direct military conflicts with Iran and Lebanon - a framework of widespread degradation of the situation being fostered by the more adventurous and bellicose sectors of imperialism, faced with an increasingly clear defeat of their plans of destabilization and terrorist chaos in Syria, thanks to the resistance of the Syrian people and the help it has received from other countries and forces, now targeted by these same sectors.
The PCP considers that measures should be taken at UN level to condemn and deter the US administration from a decision that constitutes a provocation and a very serious step in the escalation of tension and conflict in the Middle East.
The PCP reaffirms its long-standing solidarity with the Palestinian people and its legitimate and heroic seven-decade struggle for the right to a sovereign and viable state on the pre-1967 borders and with its capital in East Jerusalem, and respect for the right of return of the Palestinian refugees that Israel's policy of expansion and occupation of Palestine generated.
Considering that solidarity with the Palestinian people is now more than ever necessary, the PCP calls on all peace-loving forces to express their firm opposition, not only against the measures now announced by the US administration, but also regarding the plans and threats of escalation of military aggressions, which have already destroyed several countries in the Middle East and represent a very real and serious threat to peace in the region and in the world.
