Foreign Ministers of 19 Countries Condemn Colombia's Opening of an Embassy in Jerusalem in a Joint Statement
Ramallah / Amman — The foreign ministers of 19 countries issued a joint statement on October 16 condemning Colombia's opening of an embassy in Jerusalem, Xinhua reported. According to Jordan's Petra news agency and Turkish reporting of the statement, the 19 signatories were Türkiye, Algeria, Djibouti, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
The ministers said Colombia's move contravened relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions and undermined international efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace based on the two-state solution. They reaffirmed that any measure or decision intended to alter the legal or historical status of Jerusalem, or to recognise it as Israel's capital, is null and void and has no legal effect. They cited Security Council Resolutions 476 and 478, both adopted in 1980, which reject attempts to change Jerusalem's character or status and call on states to withdraw their diplomatic missions from the city, and they described Jerusalem as part of the Palestinian territory occupied in 1967.
The statement called on the Colombian government to reconsider and reverse its decision, to uphold its obligations under international law, and to refrain from measures that would prejudice the Palestinian people's right to an independent state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Colombia's embassy to Israel held its inauguration ceremony in Jerusalem on October 14, Xinhua reported that day; a day earlier, Israel had announced the restoration of its free trade agreement with Colombia. Former president Gustavo Petro had sharply criticised Israel over the war in Gaza and ordered ties severed in 2024. Relations began to warm after President Abelardo de la Espriella was sworn in this August.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：耶路撒冷圣殿山上的圆顶清真寺（资料图）。图片来源：idobi，Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 3.0。Photo: Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem (file photo). Image: idobi, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
