WASHINGTON – Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri on Sunday said America sdecision to shift its Israeli embassy to Jerusalem was evidence thatnegotiations and “appeasement” have failed Palestinians as he urged Muslimscarry out jihad against the United States.
In a five-minute video entitled “Tel Aviv is Also a Land of Muslims,” theEgyptian doctor who took charge of the global terror group after itsfounder Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011 referred to the PalestinianAuthority as the “sellers of Palestine” while urging followers to take uparms.
US President Donald Trump “was clear and explicit, and he revealed the trueface of the modern Crusade, where standing down and appeasement does notwork with them, but only resistance through the call and jihad,” Zawahirisaid, according to a transcript provided by the SITE monitoring agency.
He added that Bin Laden had declared the US “the first enemy of theMuslims, and swore that it will not dream of security until it is lived inreality in Palestine, and until all the armies of disbelief leave the landof Muhammad.”
He argued that Islamic countries had failed to act in Muslims interests byentering into the United Nations, which recognizes Israel, and submittingto Security Council and General Assembly resolutions instead of sharia(Islamic law).
Israelis were basking in national pride and pro-American fervor Sunday astens of thousands marched in Jerusalem, a day ahead of the controversial USembassy move from Tel Aviv to the disputed city.
Palestinians readied for their own protests on Monday over the embassy sinauguration, including another mass demonstration in the Gaza Strip nearthe border with Israel.
The embassy move will take place on the 70th anniversary of Israel sfounding, while the following day Palestinians will mark the Nakba, or”catastrophe”, commemorating the more than 700,000 Palestinians who fled orwere expelled in the 1948 war surrounding Israel s creation.
Top US officials have meanwhile insisted they could still push forward thetroubled peace process despite outrage across the Arab world.
Asked in an interview with Fox News Sunday about whether there was any lifeleft in the peace process, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo responded bysaying “the peace process is most decidedly not dead.”
“We re hard at work on it. We hope we can achieve a successful outcomethere as well,” said Pompeo whose first two weeks in office have beenlargely consumed with arranging a summit between Trump and North Koreanleader Kim Jong Un. – APP/AFP