Following the emergency meeting of foreign ministers at the Arab League Council, Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita called on countries in the region to use all diplomatic and legal means to defend the status of Jerusalem.

At the request of Palestine and Jordan and with the support of Morocco, an Arab league emergency meeting took place on Saturday, December 9 in Cairo, to “review the developments regarding the US president’s recognition of the city of Al Quds as the capital Israel.”

The meeting brought together several foreign ministers of Arabic speaking countries to discuss concrete actions to be taken regarding President Donald Trump’s decision, “which undermines the legal and historical status of Al Quds,” according to a press release issued by the Palestinian delegation to the League of Arab States.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Bourita urged “to undertake intense and pragmatic actions to deal with the US decision.”

“We must undertake intense and pragmatic actions to face the American decision regarding Jerusalem’s status, and use all the diplomatic and legal means available to us to defend our rights,” said the Moroccan diplomat.

“We must react with responsibility and not make hasty decisions that we can not apply, in order to preserve our credibility,” he added.

For the Foreign Minister, the US decision “is a dangerous turning point in the political and legal status of this holy city and a reprehensible transgression of the results of peace negotiations.”

He also called for coordination of Arab countries to defend the status of Jerusalem.

According to the Moroccan Minister, Donald Trump’s decision gives a “pretext to the Israeli authorities to go ahead in their systematic policy of Judaization of the holy city and obliteration of its religious and spiritual stamp.”

League Secretary-General Ahmed Abdul-Geith strongly condemned the US’ willingness to recognize Al Quds as the capital of Israel and relocate the US embassy in Israel to the holy city.

Many Arab leaders, including King Mohammed VI, King Abdullah of Jordan, and King Abdulaziz bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, attempted to stop Trump from taking the decision.

Despite international pressure, Trump “opened the gates of hell,” in the words of Hamas, and formally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, becoming the first ever American president to do so.