The US administration transferred its embassy to the city of Jerusalem on May 14 2018. In response, Palestinians took to the streets in large protests, and the Israeli army responded by opening fire on demonstrators, killing and wounding dozens of protestors. The implementation of the decision of US president Trump to transfer the embassy is a violation of international law and the UN Security Council resolutions which condemned this irresponsible action which provokes Palestinians in particular and Arabs in general and undermines any solution that guarantees peace and security in the Middle East.

We, in the Syrian Women’s Political Movement, condemn the US decision of transferring the American embassy to Jerusalem. We consider it a historic mistake and a serious adventure. We believe that by making this decision, the US government is disregarding international resolutions, ignoring UN resolutions and the international consensus on a political solution and any opportunity for peace in the region. The US is rather keeping the flame of war burning in the Middle East, ignoring the rights of the Palestinian people in freedom, justice and decent life, and terminating the Palestinian state, converting it into small separate entities, with the purpose of weakening it and watering down the Palestinian cause.

Moreover, SWPM considers the American administration’s use of Veto in the Security Council to prevent adopting a condemnation resolution against the Israeli aggressions against demonstrators and killing them a crime that reminds us of the Vetos made by Russia over ten times to protect Assad from condemning any of the crimes he committed against the Syrian people for seven years. Hence, in spite of differences between these two world powers, they are similar in using Veto to protect settlements, tyranny and oppression of peoples.

Long live the freedom of Palestinian and Syrian peoples

General Secretariat of the Syrian Women’s Political Movement

May 18, 2018