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WASHINGTON, Nov 30 (KUNA) -- The United States condemned on Tuesday remarks
by a Palestinian Authority official about the Western Wall saying that the
status Jerusalem must be resolved in final status negotiations.
Assistant Secretary of State for public diplomacy Philip Crowley told
reporters that "regarding a claim by a senior Palestinian official that the
Western Wall is an Islamic waqf, we strongly condemn these comments and fully
reject them as factually incorrect, insensitive and highly provocative."
"We have repeatedly raised with the Palestinian Authority leadership the
need to consistently combat all forms of delegimitization of Israel, including
denying historic Jewish connections to the land," he added.
Palestinian deputy minister of information Al-Mutawakil Taha that the
Western Wall in Jerusalem was part of an Islamic Waqf and that "Islamic
tolerance" allows Jews access to the wall.
"As the United States has long maintained, the status of Jerusalem must be
resolved in final status negotiations between the parties. We recognize that
Jerusalem is a deeply important issue to Israelis and Palestinians, to Jews,
to Muslims and to Christians everywhere," said Crowley.
"We believe it is possible to reach an outcome that both realizes the
aspirations of all parties for Jerusalem and safeguards its stature for the
future," he added while reiterating that the Palestinian official remarks were
"inflammatory" and "uncalled for at a sensitive time in the process."
Crowley further noted that Jerusalem "in all of its dimensions must be part
of a negotiated settlement, but I would be caution that there is not
necessarily an equivalence that the kind of statements that we heard the other
day we think deserve strong condemnation."
"Both have to take the responsibility to create conditions for negotiations
to resume. And when you have a senior Palestinian official who denies the
historic connection that the Jewish people feel to the Western Wall, we have
an obligation to speak out," he concluded. (end)
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