Mahmoud Abbas lambasts Trump's decision on Jerusalem

Agencies
December 7, 2017

Mahmoud Abbas has lambasted the US decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital, saying the Palestinian leadership refuses to acknowledge President Donald Trump's contentious move.

Calling Jerusalem the "eternal capital of the State of Palestine", the president of the Palestinian Authority said on Wednesday the US could no longer be a mediator in Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.

His comments were in response to an earlier announcement by Trump during which he said the US was formally recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and would begin the process of moving its embassy from Tel Aviv to the city.

"This is a reward to Israel," Abbas said in a televised address, adding that Trump's move encouraged Israel's "continuing occupation" of the Palestinian territories.

Earlier in the day, Palestinian leaders called for three days of rage against the move.

The status of Jerusalem has ignited tensions between Israelis and Palestinians for decades.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem at the end of the 1967 War with Syria, Egypt and Jordan; the western half of the holy city had been captured in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

Israel's occupation of East Jerusalem effectively put the entire city under de-facto Israeli control. Israeli jurisdiction and ownership of Jerusalem, however, is not recognised by the international community.

Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

"The decision by President Trump will not change the reality of the city of Jerusalem and will not give any legitimacy to the Israelis on this issue," said Abbas.

"We will achieve national independence."

'Dangerous decision'
Saeb Erekat, secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said Trump "has disqualified his country from any possible role in the peace process" and "destroyed any possibility of peace" between Israelis and Palestinians.

"He's pushing this region towards chaos [and] violence," Erekat told Al Jazeera.

He said the PLO Central Council would likely convene to discuss what next steps for the Palestinians.

He said its "meaningless" to have a Palestinian state without Jerusalem as its capital.

The only option remaining for Palestinians, Erekat said, "is to fight for equal rights" between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, the area of historic Palestine.

"This is the most dangerous decision that any US president has ever taken," he said.

Jamal Zahalka, a Palestinian member of the Israeli parliament, said Trump was "playing with fire".

"Those who celebrate Trump's declaration here in Israel, are the ones who will do everything to prevent order and peace, and to advance the settlements as well as supporting the occupation, while trying to strangle the just national aspirations of the Palestinian people," Zahalka said in a statement.

Echoing Netanyahu
Commenting on Trump's speech, Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera's senior political analyst, said Trump had reiterated "point-by-point" previous statements by Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister.

"Trump was a parrot, repeating after Netanyahu in terms of everything that we know today about Israel's position on Palestine," he said.

"There is something dramatic new in what Trump said this evening, wrapped up in a language of peace and civility.

"In fact, this was a declaration of war against the Palestinian people and their rights, and against the international community and its commitment to international law and to a two-state solution."

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News Network
March 25,2020

Riyadh, Mar 25: A 46-year-old man died of coronavirus in Saudi Arabia, becoming the Kingdom’s second death, according to a health ministry’s spokesman.

The health ministry recorded 133 new infections, bringing the total to 900.

Of those newly confirmed cases, 18 are associated with recent travel, and were placed in quarantine upon their arrival in the Kingdom, the spokesman said.

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News Network
April 20,2020

Apr 20: Eight Indians, including two engineers, have died due to the novel coronavirus in Saudi Arabia, according to a media report on Sunday.

Mohammed Aslam Khan, an electrical engineer in Makkah, and Azmatullah Khan, an engineer at the Makkah Haram power station, have died due to the COVID-19, Saudi Gazette reported.

Aslam Khan, aged 51, who hailed from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, was admitted to King Faisal Hospital, Makkah on April 3, following worsening of his condition after being infected with fever and throat pain.

He had been on ventilator for more than two weeks and breathed his last on Saturday night, the paper said.

Khan is survived by wife and a daughter and a son. His wife and children are under self-imposed home quarantine.

Azmatullah Khan, from Telangana, died of coronavirus on Friday.

Mujeeb Pukkottoor, a prominent Indian social worker and general secretary of Makkah chapter of Kerala Muslim Cultural Center, told the paper that the body of Khan was buried in Makkah on Sunday.

Khan, aged 65, had been working with Saudi Binladin Group for the last 32 years.

Fakre Alam, an employee at the Haram Project of Saudi Binladin Group in Makkah, died on Sunday due to infection, the paper said.

Barkt Ali Abdullatif Fakir, an electrical technician working in Medina, also died of coronavirus, it said.

According to the Saudi Ministry of Health’s daily report published on April 14, the number of coronavirus infected cases among workers of Saudi Binladin Group in various parts of the Kingdom stood at 117, and these included 70 cases in Makkah.

The first two Indian fatalities were reported from Medina and Riyadh earlier this month with the death of Shebnaz Pala Kandiyil (29) and Safvan Nadamal (41), both from Kerala.

Mohammed Sadiq, from Hyderabad, working in Jeddah and Suleman Sayyid Junaid (Maharashtra) are other Indians who died due to COVID-19 in the Gulf kingdom, the paper said.

Shebnaz from Panoor in Kannoor district died on April 3 and his body was buried in Medina on April 7. He came back to the Kingdom March 3 after his marriage in January.

Safvan, a taxi driver from Chemmad in Malappuram district, died on April 2 and was buried in Riyadh on April 8.

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News Network
June 17,2020

Abu Dhabi, Jun 17: The Ministry of Education (MoE) has allowed students still enrolled in universities overseas to obtain exceptions to attendance policies at their respective academic institutions in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a statement, the ministry said that the move stems from its keenness to ensure the continuity of education for those students and to maintain effective channels of communication with them.

Students' applications for exceptions to academic attendance in universities due to Covid-19 should be submitted following the end of the academic year, and not after the academic semester, via the following email: [email protected].

In their email, students have to explain the reasons for the required exceptions and should include an official message from the university concerned.

Scholarship approval issued by the Ministry of Education for studying abroad should also be attached.

The student's score reports for the academic years spent in the host countries and the duration of each academic year should also be attached, in addition to an entry and exit report of the student from the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship.

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