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‘Day of rage’ across the world

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JERUSALEM: Thousands took part in angry anti-US demonstrations around the world on Friday over the Trump administration’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Palestinians clashed with Israeli security forces in the West Bank and around the Gaza border on the third consecutive “day of rage” over the decision, which sparked uproar among world leaders and upended decades of American policy.


The Palestinian Health Ministry said a 30-year-old was killed and that more than 35 other people were wounded in skirmishes between Israeli forces and protesters along Gaza’s border with Israel. It was the first death since the clashes started after President Donald Trump’s speech on Wednesday.


Demonstrations also took place across the Middle East and around the world, many of them outside US diplomatic outposts.


In the Jordanian capital of Amman, hundreds of protesters chanted “Jerusalem is Arab” and “Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine.”


In the Pakistani city of Peshawar, more than 200 marched through the old city chanting anti-American slogans.


Several thousand protesters gathered in front of the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where another Trump effigy was set alight.


In Indonesia, hundreds attended a rally outside the US Embassy in Jakarta waving Palestinian flags”


The decision shows the president is “part of the problem, not part of the solution,” Ahmad Tibi, an Arab lawmaker in Israel’s Knesset, said on Friday as a crowd began to gather at the city’s Damascus Gate. “Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine and that is the way peace can prevail.”


Since the 1979 Camp David Accords, previous presidents have refused to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel or move the US Embassy. The US approach has been that Jerusalem’s status should be negotiated between the Israelis and Palestinians.


Meanwhile, amid a backlash over Trump’s decision, the US ambassador to the UN said, US is committed to ongoing efforts to reach an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord.


“Let me again assure you, the president and this administration remain committed to the peace process,” Nikki Haley said at an emergency meeting of the Security Council that was convened over Trump’s decision.


However, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who was due to meet Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for talks in Paris, said the US had excluded itself from the Middle East peace process.


“Until now it could have had a mediation role in this conflict, but it has excluded itself a little. The reality is they are alone and isolated on this issue,” he said. — Agencies


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