JERUSALEM,
Workmen
on Monday put up street signs to the US embassy due to open in
Jerusalem in one week, a move hailed as historic by Israel but loathed
by Palestinians.
Municipal workers
erected signposts reading "US Embassy" in Hebrew, Arabic and English
around the site, currently a US consular building, in the city's Arnona
neighbourhood.
70TH ANNIVERSARY
Breaking
with decades of US diplomacy and international consensus President
Donald Trump announced on December 6 the recognition of Jerusalem as the
capital of Israel and the transfer of the embassy, located until now in
Tel Aviv.
The embassy is to get a
festive inauguration on Monday next week, to coincide with the 70th
anniversary of the foundation of the state of Israel.
Small
in size, it will initially occupy part of the consular workspace
pending planning and construction of a purpose-built embassy, a
long-term project according to the US State Department.
Trump's
unilateral decision delighted the Israelis and enraged the
Palestinians, who want to make the eastern, mainly Palestinian, part of
the city the capital of their future state and who say Trump's decision
ignores their demands.
The question of Jerusalem is one of the thorniest of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"This
is not a dream — it's reality," Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said in a
Twitter post that included photos of him up a ladder holding one of the
newly installed signs.
"Jerusalem is
the eternal capital of the Jewish people — and the world is beginning to
recognise this fact," he said, adding his thanks to Trump.
Israel considers the Trump declaration as recognition, albeit long delayed, of a historical fact.
'BIAS'
To the Palestinians it is indicative of what they say is the White House's pro-Israel bias.
Senior
Palestinian official Saeb Erekat called in a statement Monday for
diplomats, "civil society organisations, and religious authorities to
boycott the inauguration ceremony" of the Jerusalem embassy.
"Those
who attend the ceremony will be sending an ominous message, a message
that they encourage flagrant violations of international law and (of)
the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people," he added.
Israel occupied east Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it.
The international community considers the annexation illegal and considers east Jerusalem as occupied territory.
Since
the creation of the Jewish state it has not recognised Jerusalem as its
capital and considers that the final status of the city must be
negotiated with the Palestinians.
Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales has said his country's embassy will move to Jerusalem on May 16.
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