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Bolton: Palestine «Not a State But Could Become One»

Bolton: Palestine «Not a State But Could Become One»
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Local Editor

The United States on Wednesday withdrew from an amendment to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations to avoid being sued by the Palestinians over its embassy move from Tel Aviv to al-Quds [Jerusalem].

The decision made by US President Donald Trump “is in connection with a case brought by the so-called state of Palestine naming the US as a defendant challenging the move of our embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem,” US National Security adviser John Bolton announced.

In the course of the announcement, Bolton reiterated the American stance that Palestine in its current form is not a state.

"Of course it’s not a state now. It does not meet the customary international law test of statehood. It doesn’t control defined boundaries. It doesn’t fulfill the normal functions of government. There are a whole host of reasons why it’s not a state. It could become a state, as the president said, but that requires diplomatic negotiations with ‘Israel’ and others."

Bolton was referring to a lawsuit filed by the Palestinian Authority (PA) with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last week, ordering Washington to remove the recently relocated US embassy back to Tel Aviv from al-Quds.

The lawsuit was submitted against the US at the ICJ "for violating international law by moving its embassy in ‘Israel’ to the occupied city of Jerusalem [al-Quds]", said PA foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki, quoted by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.

The court said the Palestinian suit asked the body "to order the United States of America to withdraw the diplomatic mission from the Holy City of Jerusalem [al-Quds] and to conform to the international obligations flowing from the Vienna Convention".

Cases taken to the Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) can take up to a number of years, and the decision once reached, is legally binding.

The US recognized al-Quds as the “Israeli” entity’s so-called capital last year and moved its embassy from Tel Aviv to al-Quds on May 14.

Bolton emphasized that the withdrawal from the amendment to the Vienna Convention had “less to do with Iran and the Palestinians than with the continued, consistent policy of the United States to reject the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice.”

Bolton’s announcement that Trump had decided to withdraw from the amendment to the Vienna Convention came shortly after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo terminated the Treaty of Amity with Iran, signed in 1955 and ratified by the US Senate a year later, which lays out practicalities for unfettered economic relations and consular rights between the two countries.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

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