Kosovo opens embassy in al-Quds in affront to Palestinian rights

Kosovo has become the first Muslim country to open an embassy in the occupied holy city of al-Quds, and the third state to ever make such a controversial decision.

According to Press TV, the move came on Sunday in clear support for the Israeli regime’s claim to the city as its “capital.”

The US was the first country when former President Donald Trump defied all the previous American administrations to endorse the Israeli claim on December 6, 2017.

Washington then took another unprecedented move by relocating its embassy from Tel Aviv to al-Quds. Before Kosovo, only Guatemala had followed the US lead and countries worldwide have declined to move their embassies to the city.

The EU has warned its members against providing diplomatic favors for the Israeli regime, saying they would be going against the bloc’s official position regarding the city.

Al-Quds remains at the heart of the decades-long West Asia conflict, with Palestinians insisting that East al-Quds – illegally occupied by Israel since 1967 – should serve as the capital of a Palestinian state.

In 2017, two-thirds of UN member states rejected Trump’s decision to have the US recognize al-Quds as Israel’s "capital". In all, 128 nations voted to maintain the international consensus that the status of al-Quds can only be decided through peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.

Kosovo, which is a legacy of the Balkan wars resulting from the violent breakup of the former Yugoslavia, established diplomatic relations with Israel in February. 

ME