US Secretary of State John Kerry yesterday said Israeli and Palestinian leaders need to clarify the status of Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque compound to help end a spate of bloodshed and restore stability.
Kerry, preparing for meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Germany and then with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan’s King Abdullah, likely in Amman, also rejected a proposal by France at the UN for an international observer presence at the holy site.
Israel yesterday called in France’s ambassador to make clear its opposition to the idea, an Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said.
Photo: AFP
“Israel understands the importance of the ‘status quo’ and ... our objective is to make sure that everyone understands what that means,” Kerry told a news conference in Madrid.
The Palestinians’ unrest, the most serious in years, has been stirred, in part, by anger over what they see as increased Jewish encroachment on the mosque compound, Islam’s most sacred site outside Saudi Arabia and also revered by Jews as the location of two biblical Jewish temples.
Netanyahu has said his government is committed to maintaining the “status quo” at the compound, which has long been under Muslim religious administration, while Jews are permitted to visit the site, but not pray there.
“We are not seeking a new change or outsiders to come in. I do not think Israel or Jordan wants that and we are not proposing it,” Kerry said. “What we need is clarity.”
Israel has deployed troops in and around Jerusalem and erected roadblocks in Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem to try to stop the most serious outbreak of Palestinian street attacks since an uprising in 2000 to 2005.
Kerry said Israel had a right to protect its citizens against random acts of violence.
Netanyahu had told him he was committed to preserving the “status quo” at al-Aqsa, he added.
“I do not have specific expectations, except to try to move things forward,” Kerry said. “That will depend on the conversations themselves as to what it is that we are able to define in the context of steps that might be taken so people understand that, in fact, leaders are leading and making a serious effort to try and resolve the current ... conflict.”
He also said he would meet counterparts from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Russia in Europe to explore “real and tangible options” for a peaceful political transition in Syria.
“This is a human catastrophe unfolding before our eyes and it is a catastrophe that now threatens the integrity of a whole group of countries throughout the region,” Kerry said.
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