Cairo (UNA) - Jordanian King Abdullah II stressed the need to unify Arab efforts to support the steadfastness of the Palestinian brothers on their land, indicating that the Palestinian cause will remain at the forefront of Arab issues. In a speech he delivered at the Conference in Support of Jerusalem: Steadfastness and Development, held in Cairo on Sunday, he added that the focus of our meeting today is linked to the conscience of every Arab, as Jerusalem is the first Qiblah of Muslims, and our region cannot enjoy peace, stability and prosperity while the Palestinian cause remains in place. The Jordanian monarch stressed that preserving the chances of peace based on the two-state solution requires stopping all Israeli violations and incursions into the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif. He warned against attempts at temporal and spatial division that hinder the chances of achieving the desired peace, adding that any attempt to tamper with the historical and legal status quo will have negative repercussions on the security and stability of the entire region. The King reiterated Jordan's support for the Palestinian brothers, and said, "We call on the international community to fulfill their just and legitimate rights, to establish an independent, sovereign and viable Palestinian state, on the lines of June 1967, XNUMX, with East Jerusalem as its capital." He indicated that Jordan will continue to exert all efforts to protect and care for Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, and continue maintenance and reconstruction projects at the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, based on the Hashemite custodianship over them, to preserve the identity and Arabism of the holy city, consolidate the steadfastness of Jerusalemites, and protect the rights of Muslims and Christians to practice their religious rituals. The Jordanian monarch continued: This is the era of the Hashemite prophetic message, as we inherited it from my grandfather, Sharif Hussein bin Ali, when he answered the call of the people of Palestine, more than a hundred years ago. He added that within the framework of this historical responsibility, we in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan stand by our Christian brothers and sisters in Jerusalem in preserving their churches and confronting violations and attacks on them, and we affirm our commitment to the Pact of Omar, which has preserved harmony and coexistence in Jerusalem for more than XNUMX years. He expressed his thanks to the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States and its cadres for their efforts in preparing for the conference in coordination with the Palestinian brothers, which he described as an important conference, which comes at a time that requires everyone to intensify efforts to support the steadfastness of the brothers in the Palestinian territories. (End)
