African leaders on Sunday rejected and condemned US President Donald Trump's Middle East peace plan as "illegitimate," and voiced "solidarity with the Palestinian cause."
According to French news agency AFP, African Union Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat told assembled heads of state that the plan unveiled in late January represented the "umpteenth violation of multiple United Nations and African Union resolutions."
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Mahamat criticized the fact that the proposal was outlined "without international consultation" and that it "trampled on the rights of the Palestinian people."
Trump's long-delayed peace proposal was immediately rejected by the Palestinians, who have boycotted his administration over what they allege is its "gross pro-Israel stance."
Outgoing AU chair Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi said in his remarks on Sunday that "the Palestinian cause will always be in the hearts and minds of the people of Africa."
His successor, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, compared Trump's proposals to regulations in place during his country's apartheid era.
"As I listened to it and as I read everything that's written about it, it brought to mind the horrible history that we in South Africa have gone through," AFP quotes Ramaphosa as saying.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who regularly attends AU summits, did not travel to Ethiopia this year. The PA was represented by Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, who reiterated Palestinian leaders' position that the Trump plan "has no legitimacy whatsoever."
