Pope Francis on Monday called for peace in Jerusalem in his traditional Christmas address and highlighted the plight of children scarred by conflict, after urging the world´s 1.3 billion Catholics not to ignore migrants. Following Trump’s lead, Guatemala’s President Jimmy Morales said Sunday his country would move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Criticising Trump’s announcement, Pizzaballa insisted “Jerusalem is a city of peace, there is no peace if someone is excluded. Israel seized east Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed it, in moves never recognised by the international community. Palestinians view east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, and interpreted Trump´s statement as rejecting their right to a capital in east Jerusalem, although the Americans deny this.

Source: Pakistan Today December 25, 2017 12:33 UTC