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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that his country decided to classify settlement products as “made in Israel” without reference to their settlement origin, during his visit Thursday to a settlement on the lands of the United States. Palestinian city of Al-Bireh, followed by a trip to the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.
Thus, Pompeo will be the first US Secretary of State to visit the Golan Heights and an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, dedicating during his farewell visit to the Middle East the legacy of US President Donald Trump and his strong support for the Israeli occupation.
Pompeo said in a statement to reporters: “The US State Department has always taken the wrong stance toward settlements and failed to acknowledge history. Today, the United States stands firm in recognizing that settlements may be about legal and appropriate manner “.
After his visit to the “Psagot” settlement, which is built on Palestinian land in the city of Al-Bireh, the US minister declared that he “enjoyed the view” from the settlement and toasted at its wine factory.
Fury in beer
The visit came amid official and popular Palestinian rejection, as it was described by political circles as a provocation, and it represented a US association for the Israeli occupation.
The city of Al-Bireh witnessed clashes between Palestinians and the Israeli occupation forces in protest against the visit.
For its part, the Palestinian presidency “strongly” condemned the visit, and presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeinah said in a statement: “This decision is a flagrant challenge to all decisions of international legitimacy … This US measure will not legitimize the settlements Israelis who will disappear sooner or later. ” .
Abu Rudeineh called on the international community, specifically the Security Council, to “assume its responsibilities and implement its decisions, especially the latest resolution 2334, which came with the approval of the previous US administration.”
Today I enjoyed lunch at the picturesque Psagot winery. Unfortunately, Psagot and other companies have been targeted by harmful EU labeling efforts that facilitate boycott of Israeli companies. The United States supports Israel and will not tolerate any form of delegitimization. pic.twitter.com/N4oCD5IqRB
– Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) November 19, 2020
Al-Jazeera correspondent Shirin Abu Aqleh from the city of Al-Bireh said Palestinians fear Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s attempts to exploit the final weeks of US President Donald Trump’s term. to achieve gains at the settlement level, which would strengthen its position on the Israeli right.
And Washington previously announced on this day last year that it no longer considers settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories to be an illegal act.
Turkish complaint
On the other hand, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry condemned Pompeo’s visit to the settlement, describing it in a statement as “a very dangerous step.”
The statement added that the visit “contravenes United Nations resolutions, which consider Israel’s settlement activities in the Palestinian territories a violation of laws, the main of which is Resolution 2334 of the United Nations Security Council. , of which the United States is a permanent member. “
The Turkish Foreign Ministry considered that the visit is aimed at legalizing Israel’s illegal activities in the occupied Palestinian territories.
After his visit to the Psagot settlement, Pompeo moved to the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, where he said Israel has the right to defend what it called its sovereignty, indicating that the Trump administration will ensure that Israel continues to do so.
Pompeo added that, as an army officer, he recalled the pressure on Israel to return the Golan to Syria. “We have to imagine if Assad was controlling this area,” he added.
This is the first visit by a senior US official of the US administration to the Golan, while in charge of his work. Last year, the Trump administration announced its recognition of what it called Israeli sovereignty over the Golan.
Damascus: a provocative move
For its part, the Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned Pompeo’s visit, calling it a provocation, as reported by official media in Damascus, according to an official ministry source.
The source said his country “condemns in the strongest terms” Pompeo’s visit to “the Israeli settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan.”
He described the visit as a “provocative step before the end of the Trump administration’s term and a flagrant violation of Syria’s sovereignty,” and called on the United Nations and the international community to condemn it because “it violates Council Resolution 497. Security and the international consensus that rejected Israel’s decision to annex the Golan. “
Also in the framework of his visit to the region, Pompeo announced during a conference A joint journalist with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in occupied Jerusalem decided to classify various organizations, including the BDS movement, as anti-Semitic.
Pompeo addressed Netanyahu saying, “I want you to know that we will immediately take steps to identify organizations that engage in abhorrent boycott behavior and withdraw US government support for such groups,” describing the BDS movement as ” Cancer”.
For his part, Netanyahu praised the US president’s efforts in support of Israel. He said the alliance between Washington and Tel Aviv had reached “unprecedented” levels during the Trump era, and that thanks to him, Israel had achieved peace with Bahrain, the Emirates and Sudan.
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