Head of Europeans for al-Quds Association, Mohammed Hannoun, stressed that “the geographical distance cannot stand in the way of the Palestinians in the diaspora to fulfill their duty towards Jerusalem”.

This came in a seminar held on Saturday on the violations of the Israeli occupation in Jerusalem and the dangers of displacement and Judaization, within the activities of the 19th  Palestinians in Europe Conference.

“The Europeans for al-Quds Association, along with dozens of Palestinian institutions, works continuously and around the clock in order to strengthen the steadfastness of Jerusalemites and publicize their suffering,” said Hannoun.

He added that “the Zionist Israeli occupation media is working with all its energy in Europe to change and falsify the facts, and to define Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, reinforced by the American decision,” stressing the need to confront the Zionist media and political lobbies.

Participants in the seminar stressed the need to support the steadfastness of the Jerusalemites, pointing out that the stability of the residents of Jerusalem in their lands cannot continue without real financial and moral support.

Hatem Abdel Qader, a member of the Legislative Council and former Minister of Jerusalem, said that the significance of Jerusalem is not only religious or historical, as it is also the link between the lands of the West Bank, which cannot be reached without Jerusalem. Therefore, the occupation is trying to isolate it by finding Separator between the north and south of the West Bank.

He added: “We believe that it is not possible to establish a geographically interconnected Palestinian state, which is crucial, without Jerusalem as its capital,” calling on the Palestinian Authority to stand up to its legal and moral responsibilities, especially since it considers Jerusalem the capital of the Palestinian state.

Mazen Jabari, Director of the Arab Studies Society  NGO stressed that “the recent Jerusalem protests was able to mobilize Arab and Islamic solidarity after the Palestinian cause and Jerusalem were marginalized, as if Jerusalem were a purely Palestinian issue.”

He deplored the attempts of some Arab countries to skip Jerusalem cause, as four Arab countries signed normalization agreements with the occupying entity, noting that one of the most important achievements of the recent protests in Jerusalem is reunification the Palestinian identity as a collective identity in Palestine and in the Palestinian diaspora as well.”

The Palestinian writer and journalist, Rasim Obeidat, confirmed that the occupation uses three strategies to control the holy city, which are expanding settlements, controlling the land and seizing Palestinian buildings, as well as controlling the underground through tunnels that are being dug under and around Al-Aqsa Mosque and in the town of Silwan close to Al-Aqsa.

He pointed out that the third strategy is to control the air through the flying train and Chairlifts, adding that when the occupation closes all the gates of Jerusalem and isolates it from the north and south of Jerusalem, it eliminates any possibility of the so-called two-state solution, as no land remains to established the state on it.”

Obeidat added, “there are those who are living under illusions of returning to negotiations,” noting that 27 years of this absurd choice through the Oslo Agreement failed miserably.”

The first Palestinian in European conference was held in London in 2003, and then traveled through a number of European capitals and cities annually without interruption. The last of which was in the French capital, Paris, in April 2020, and was canceled due to the Coronavirus pandemic.