Arab journalists call on more escalation over U.S. decision

CAIRO – 11 December 2017: The Federation of Arab Journalists held a meeting in Baghdad on Saturday, calling upon Arab and international media to reject U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision on recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of the Israeli occupation.

The statement called for focusing on Jerusalem as the capital of occupied Palestine and covering all the developments in Palestine on a large scale.

Moayad al-Lami, chairman of the Federation of Arab Journalists, strongly condemned the U.S. president's decision and called on Arab and Muslims to exert more force on tyrants to put an end to their aggression against the Palestinian people.

The federation also condemned the Zionist repression of Palestinian anger and their targeting of Palestinian journalists during the occupation, which has led to many of them being injured, and they called for urgent international protection for the Palestinian people.

The federation called on all Arab journalist unions to organize daily protests and demonstrations until Palestine reaches a fair settlement.

On Wednesday, December 6, Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel during a televised speech from the White House.

Trump’s decision was met by a barrage of criticism and condemnations from many Arab and world leaders. Protests have since broken out in the Gaza Strip, West Bank and different locations across the Arab world.

At least 31 Palestinians have been wounded in clashes in the Gaza Strip and across the occupied West Bank during protests against the U.S. president’s decision.

Jerusalem is of huge importance to both Israelis and Palestinians. It contains sites sacred to the three major monotheistic faiths: Judaism, Islam and Christianity.