Mauritanians hit streets to decry US shift on Jerusalem

By Mohamed al-Bakay

NOUAKCHOTT (AA) - Hundreds of Mauritanians protested Thursday evening in capital Nouakchott to protest U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision -- announced earlier this week -- to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Protestors waved Palestinian flags and shouted anti-Israel and anti-U.S. slogans, according to an Anadolu Agency correspondent in the city.

Many protesters also decried the “weak reaction” of most Arab leaders to the controversial U.S. move.

Addressing demonstrators in Nouakchott, opposition leader Mohamed Jamil Ould Mansour called for several days of countrywide protests to show solidarity with Jerusalem and the Palestinians.

On Wednesday, Trump announced his decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and relocate Washington’s Israel embassy to the holy city.

The shift in longstanding U.S. policy sparked demonstrations on Thursday in the occupied Palestinian territories, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq and in some other Muslim countries.

Jerusalem remains at the heart of the Israel-Palestine conflict, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem -- now occupied by Israel -- might eventually serve as the capital of a future Palestinian state.