FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
UNION OF ORTHODOX JEWISH CONGREGATIONS:
PALESTINIANS MAKE THEIR PRICE FOR PEACE – CONTROL OF JERUSALEM — EXPLICIT IN REACTING TO OBAMA SPEECH
Today, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America – the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization – called attention to the strong and explicit statements made by top Palestinian officials staking their claims to the holy city of Jerusalem. In sharply rejecting Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s statement this morning that “Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel and it must remain undivided,” the president and chief negotiator of the Palestinian Authority clearly stated that the Palestinians will not accept any peace agreement with Israel that does not include Israel ceding the Old City and East Jerusalem to the Palestinians.
President Abbas stated: “The whole world knows that East Jerusalem, holy Jerusalem, was occupied in 1967 and we will not accept a Palestinian state without having Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state.” Saeb Erekat stated: “[Obama] has closed all the doors to peace….without East Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state there won’t be peace with Israel.”
Earlier today, the Orthodox Union praised Candidate Obama’s statement.
After the statements by the Palestinian leadership, Union public policy director Nathan Diament stated:
For the first time since the Annapolis Conference launched this round of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, the Palestinian leadership has made public and explicit its price for peace – it is nothing less than the re-division of Jerusalem and the ceding of Israeli sovereignty over Judaism’s holiest sites to Arab rule. Jerusalem experienced this situation in 1948-1967 and, under Arab rule, synagogues were sacked, worshipers were barred from their holy sites and the holy city was in ruins. Even in the quest for a longed-for peace, the re-division of Jerusalem is not desirable, much less inevitable as some have suggested. The Orthodox Union will continue to vigorously lead the pro-Israel community’s effort to defend the integrity of Jerusalem as the eternal and indivisible capital of Israel and the Jewish people. ###
For more information: https://advocacy.ou.org:443/