Shoukry to attend six-party Arab committee on Jerusalem

CAIRO – 26 February 2018: Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry will attend a meeting of foreign ministers of the six-party Arab committee with foreign ministers of the European Union on Monday in Brussels at the headquarters of the European Commission.

Shoukry will head after the meeting to Geneva to deliver a speech at the 37th Human Rights Council and the Conference on Disarmament.

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid said in a press statement on Saturday that the meeting between foreign ministers of the six-party Arab committee stresses on the continued efforts of the committee to negotiate with international parties to tackle the consequences of the U.S. decision to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital in future peace processes. The meeting also will discuss the ways to revive Israeli and Palestinian negotiations and preserve peace process.

Abu Zeid further remarked that Arab movement coordinates with efforts exerts by European Commission and many European countries to support Palestinian cause as Egypt participated on January 29 in ministerial meeting of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) in Brussels.

He added that Shoukry’s participation in the meeting affirms Egypt’s commitment to continue its international and regional efforts to support the peace process and its connections with Israeli and Palestinian parties along with the effective international and regional parties to resume the negotiations in accordance with international legislations.

Shoukry will hold a bilateral meeting with foreign ministers participating in the six-party Arab committee to discuss the recent developments regarding Egypt’s efforts to sponsor Palestinian reconciliation and Egypt’s vision to advance humanitarian and economic status of Palestinian people.

The meeting of the AHLC, which Shoukry attended in January, aimed to discuss the future of the peace process, how to maintain the unity of the international position towards the Palestinian issue and how to move to re-correct the course and achieve a two-state solution.

After U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in December, all Arab and Islamic leaders rejected the decision, joined by most western and Asian leaders as this move could ignite violence and bury any hope of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Furthermore, the Arab League ministerial meeting on Jerusalem was held in February, which aimed to identify the next steps to defend Jerusalem.
Hundreds of protesters took to the streets to denounce the American decision on Jerusalem in many cities across the world.