Muslims hold Friday prayers outside White House to protest Donald Trump’s Jerusalem move

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Muslims pray at President's Park beside Pennsylvania Avenue across the street from the White House in Washington. Hundreds gathered at President's Park near the White House to protest US President Donald Trump's announcement that he is recognising Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and will relocate the US embassy to Jerusalem. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 6:43am, 9 Dec 2017Updated: 6:43am, 9 Dec 2017

Hundreds of Muslims attended prayers on Friday in front of the White House to protest President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Responding to the call of American Muslim organisations, worshippers laid out their prayer mats at a park in front of the president’s residence.

Wearing traditional Palestinian keffiyeh scarves or the colours of the Palestinian flag, protesters also held placards denouncing Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

President Donald Trump walks to board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House. Photo: AP

On Wednesday, Trump declared that the US recognises Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and announced the relocation of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem – turning his back on decades of American and international diplomacy.

“Trump does not own a piece of soil of Jerusalem and Palestine. He owns the Trump Tower. He can give it away to the Israelis,” Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said.