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Rabat – Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, has warned against a possible escalation of tensions in Jerusalem, following recent Israeli measures in the contested capital. Speaking on Monday, he stated that the actions may exacerbate the situation in occupied Jerusalem and that only third-party interests will benefit from the worrying situation.
Gheit warned of the dangers of the ongoing mobilization among Palestine’s extremist right-wingers and Israeli settlement groups. With Israeli settlers provoking already aggrieved Palestinians and incite confrontations by organizing marches and demonstrations, he argued, the situation in Jerusalem will inevitably lead to heightened feelings and increased tension in the region.
An official source in the General Secretariat of the Arab League confirmed that Aboul Gheit is following with concern the ongoing incitement against the Palestinian people. He cited the Israeli authorities’ continued repressive measures in Palestinian neighborhoods in Jerusalem, including the now-infamous Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.
The source quoted Abul-Gheit as saying that this kind of measures led to the eruption of the situation last May, and that Israel is trying to export its internal crisis to the Palestinian side, as a distracting or scapegoating strategy.
Aboul Gheit concluded by emphasizing that the current state of affairs requires both sides to demonstrate responsibility and restraint in order to establish a truce. The alternative to dialogue would be a proxy conflict, he suggested.
As arguably the most troubled areas in the Middle East, and one of the most complicated political and humanitarian cases the international community has had to deal with, the Israel-Palestine conflict resurfaces as a time when the stakes are very high.
The Arab League’s secretary-general highlighted that Israel inciting violence and taking on repressive measures is a foolproof recipe for more escalations and humanitarian disasters. Gheit insisted he will “be blaming the Israeli government for any resulting deterioration in the situation.”
These statements come on the heels of a wave of arrests that stirred uproar among Palestinians and Arab residents of East Jerusalem.
Officers arrested Muna el-Kurd, 23, and left a summons for her twin brother, Muhammad, 23, at their home in Sheikh Jarrah, a part of the city that has become a flashpoint for protests in recent weeks. Muhammad later turned himself in. The siblings are among the most prominent faces of the recent outrage over illegal Israeli settlements.
Following the announcement of multiple normalization agreements between Israel and a group of Arab countries, the discourse within the Arab League was contrarian and plagued with divergences.
Regardless of conflicting interests and a diversity of foreign policy practices and doctrines, all arab countries continue to unequivocally reiterate support for the Palestinian cause and for Palestinians’ fundamental rights to dignity and equal treatment.
