RAMALLAH, A Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) senior official today described Jordan King Abdullah II’s statements on “red lines” on the holy sites in Jerusalem as the “compass” for Arab action.

Secretary-General of PLO Executive Committee Hussein al-Sheikh hailed Abdullah II’s statements warning of crossing the “red lines” on his country’s custodianship of the holy sites in the occupied city of East Jerusalem as the “compass” of Arab action to face upcoming challenges.

“The statements of His Majesty King Abdullah II about the challenges of the next stage and the red lines form the compass of the Arab direction and the action necessary in facing the upcoming challenges,” al-Sheikh tweeted.

During an interview with CNN’s anchor Becky Anderson at the Baptism Site of Jesus Christ in Jordan, Abdullah tackled the threat posed by the new right-wing Jewish supremacist Israeli coalition government on the status quo on the holy sites and voiced concerns of its quest to undermine his country’s custodianship of the Muslim and Christian holy sites in the occupied city of East Jerusalem.

“If people want to get into a conflict with us, we’re quite prepared,” he said. “I always like to believe that, let’s look at the glass half full, but we have certain red lines… And if people want to push those red lines, then we will deal with that.”

Responding to a question on his reference to Jerusalem in his speech at the United Nations General Assembly earlier this year, Abdullah II, according to the Jordan Times, reaffirmed that Jerusalem must be a city that brings people together, warning against extremists’ attempts to use the city to create conflict and violence.

“We are the custodians of both the Christian and Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem; my concern is that there are challenges that the churches are facing from policies on the ground. If we continue to use Jerusalem as a soapbox for politics, things can get out of control really, really quickly,” he warned.

The King addressed the challenges facing the Christian presence in the region.

“They have been here for 2,000 years. Over the past several years, we are seeing that they have become under pressure as a community, so the numbers are dropping, which is, I think, an alarm bell to all of us.”

Source: Palestine News & Info Agency