Sep 7, 2012 No Comments ›› Pat Dollard
(JP) Senior Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq on Friday condemned the last-minute amendment to the Democrat party platform to reinstate language recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Writing on his Facebook page, al-Rishq commented: “Jerusalem was and will always be the eternal capital of Palestine, and of the Arab and Muslim nations.”The official said that the return of the Democratic Party platform reinstating Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is “begging for Jewish votes.”
On Thursday, The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) also condemned the use of Jerusalem “in competition for the Jewish vote” between the two main sides of the American election, according to Ma’an News Agency.
In a statement, the PFLP said the United States sought to “judge and decide other people’s rights, belongings and holy sites.”Democrats amended the party platform Wednesday afternoon to include language supporting Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
The last-minute change came in the wake of mounting criticism from Democratic members of Congress incensed that the 2008 platform’s declaration backing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel had been removed from the 2012 text. Sources close to the platform drafting process said Obama personally intervened on reinstating the Jerusalem language. The whole 2012 platform was originally adopted during the Democratic convention Tuesday night.
