President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Cairo for a three-day visit on January 4, 2019. He will meet with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, and is also scheduled to attend the inauguration of El Fattah El Aleem Mosque and the Nativity of the Christ Cathedral, in the New Administrative Capital of Egypt.
On Friday night, President Abbas held a reception at his residence in Cairo. During the event, he briefed a delegation of senior Egyptian media and intellectuals on the latest political developments in the region, especially the US administration’s bias towards Israel by recognizing Jerusalem as its capital and transferring its embassy to Israel.
The President stressed, according to the PNN, that these actions will not “undermine our legitimate right to Jerusalem and will not make us relinquish our national interest. Palestine does not agree to the ‘Deal of the Century’, which has violated international law. It will not change the fact that East Jerusalem is the capital of our Palestinian state.”
“We will continue our journey and achieve our goals one after another, and within days I will go to New York to assume chairmanship of the Group of 77 + China, from Egypt. It will strengthen the status of the State of Palestine on the international scene.”
“The door of Palestine is completely closed to the United States of America, unless it retracts the punitive measures taken against us. No Palestinian will meet with the US leadership, no matter what his role is. We have 83 security protocols with 83 countries, for example, the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany and Italy, because we are fighting against terrorism and ready to cooperate with anyone against it.”
“We are reviewing the Paris Protocol and several other agreements with Israel, including the Oslo agreement and the security cooperation.” The possible result of reassessment is for Palestine to opt out the commitments that are not serving its interest.
Abbas also mentioned that Palestine is facing three intolerable issues: the situation with the US, with Israel and with Hamas. “The future is dangerous and I will not end my life as a traitor. I have no more strength to fight, but I can say ‘no’. The Palestinian people can say ‘no’.”
The Palestinian President also talked about the future election, “If it is not held in Jerusalem, I will not accept any election.”
