Jerusalem as Israel's capital: Zafarul Haq calls for Muslim states' moot on Trump's decision

Leader of the House in Senate Raja Zafarul Haq on Wednesday called for a conference of Muslim countries to discuss US President Donald Trump's decision to move the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. A day earlier, Trump had informed Arab leaders of the decision, which breaks with decades of US policy and risks fuelling further unrest in the Middle East.
President Trump is expected to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. While the relocation of the embassy from Tel Aviv has been delayed for six months, Trump is expected to order his aides to begin planning such a move immediately. Washington's endorsement of Israel's claim to all of Jerusalem as its capital would reverse a longstanding policy that the city's status must be decided in negotiations with the Palestinians, who want East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.
The international community does not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the entire city, home to sites holy to Islam, Judaism and Christianity. Senator Raja Zafar raised concerns regarding Trump's decision, which, he noted, has disappointed Muslim countries across the world. "The hope for peace and justice has been squashed with [Trump's] announcement."
He noted that Trump's move will increase tension in the Middle East and its repercussions will be felt beyond the region. The senator demanded that an emergency session of the Muslim countries be convened ? similar to the emergency meetings of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation called by Jordan ? to discuss Trump's new policy.
Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas, Jordan's King Abdullah, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi and Saudi Arabia's King Salman have warned Washington that unilateral steps on Jerusalem would derail a fledgling US-led peace effort and unleash turmoil in the region. In a phone call with the US President, Abbas "warned of the dangerous consequences such a decision would have to the peace process and to the peace, security and stability of the region and of the world." The Jordanian monarch warned that moving the embassy would obstruct the US efforts to promote Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.