ATFP Cautions that Encircling Arab East Jerusalem Would Have Far-Reaching Negative Consequences
Washington, DC, July 12 -- The American Task Force on Palestine ATFP has consistently maintained that the issue of the Jerusalem is the most sensitive of the final status issues, both for Palestinians and other Arabs, as well as for Muslims worldwide. 'Unilateral Israeli actions aimed at isolating East Jerusalem from the West Bank are particularly damaging,' ATFP president Ziad Asali stressed. 'In addition to endangering a very fragile peace process, such activity makes a future Palestinian state territorially non-contiguous and non-viable. No Palestinian could accept a Palestinian state without a capital in Arab East Jerusalem. This is not to mention the dangerous message of exclusivity it sends to 1.2 billions Muslims around the globe.' ATFP urges the Bush administration to continue using its good offices to ensure that Prime Minister Sharon's government live up to its Roadmap obligations regarding refraining from all actions that prejudice issues that remain to be negotiated upon, including Jerusalem. 'This is an issue that has a direct impact on prospects for a two-state solution,' Asali said. 'No East Jerusalem means no Palestinian state and without a Palestinian state there is no two-state solution, only continued strife and violence for two peoples who have seen more than their share of both.'
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