Residents of Abu Dis, an outlying area of Jerusalem, are rejecting parts of the US peace proposal that would put the Palestinian capital there and have it be called Jerusalem, or al-Quds.
“Abu Dis will never be Jerusalem. Abu Dis is Abu Dis and Jerusalem is Jerusalem,” a local store owner tells The Guardian.
Under the peace plan, areas of East Jerusalem beyond the security barrier, will become part of a Palestinian capital together with Abu Dis, which lies outside Jerusalem’s current municipal boundary, but inside the PA’s Jerusalem Governorate.
This Monday, June 25, 2018 file photo shows a view of the plenum hall of what was to be a Palestinian parliament in Abu Dis in the West Bank. (AP Photo/Dusan Vranic, File)
The town has been proposed as a Palestinian capital in the past and is home to a half-built Palestinian parliament building.
Ahmed Abu Hilal, the town’s mayor, tells The Guardian that his city has no aspirations to be the capital, or Jerusalem.
“We refuse that. Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine,” he says.
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From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, January 29, 2020
