U.S. Embassy Move: Palestinians Call for ‘A Message of Protest’ at Friday Prayers

Palestinian leaders are appealing for “prayers” at mosques across the Islamic world on Friday and the ringing of bells at churches on Sunday to protest any move by President-elect Donald Trump to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem in line with a campaign pledge.

Palestinians and their supporters have been predicting for weeks that the move could lead to an eruption of anger, a warning echoed Friday by Secretary of State John Kerry, who said it could lead to “an absolute explosion in the region.”

Palestinian Authority (P.A.) official Mohammad Shtayyeh, announcing the call for prayers and bell-ringing “from Pakistan to Tehran, from Lebanon to Oman” this week, described it as “a message of protest.”

He denied that it constituted incitement.

“We are not inciting violence,” he said. “Calling for a prayer is not a violent act.”

 

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