Cairo/Gaza (dpa) - The head of the Arab League, Ahmed Abul Gheit, believes that US President Donald Trump‘s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel‘s capital undermines Arabs‘ trust in Washington as a sponsor of the Middle East peace process."The decision is dangerous in its consequences; bad in its content and form," Abul Gheit told an emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo late Saturday."It is a decision that condemns the country that has taken it and the administration that has passed it. It raises a question mark over its role and its commitment to consolidate peace and stability in the region," he added.Ministers, who addressed the special meeting on Jerusalem, denounced the decision, demanding Washington revoke it.Prior to the meeting, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Maliki said his delegation to the Arab regional organization would push for a clear reaction to Trump‘s decision.The Palestinian delegation will "ask Arabs and Muslims to take urgent action against Trump‘s decision," al-Maliki said at a press conference in Cairo.He also confirmed that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will not meet US Vice President Mike Pence on his upcoming visit to the Middle East this month, as a symbol of protest.Trump‘s decision has outraged Palestinians and triggered street protests across the Arab and Muslim worlds.Earlier Saturday, Egypt‘s Coptic Orthodox Church said it had refused a meeting with Pence when he visits Cairo. It came a day after Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayyeb, the head of al-Azhar, Egypt‘s highest Islamic body, also announced that he was cancelling a meeting with Pence.The church said that Trump‘s decision to move his country‘s embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem "has shown no regard to feelings of millions" of Arabs. Most of Egypt‘s Christian minority community are Coptic.The moves against the US took place on another day of clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli security forces. Four people were killed in the Gaza Strip by Israeli gunfire and airstrikes, a health ministry official said.A day earlier, hundreds of Palestinians were injured in clashes after Friday prayers in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, while two were killed in the strip.Palestinians see East Jerusalem as their future capital and are demanding the establishment of their own independent state. Trump‘s announcement that the US embassy would move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem despite the fact Jerusalem is not internationally recognized as Israel‘s capital, marked a major shift in US policy. Observers warned that it would inflame regional tensions.
