Sheikh Tayseer al-Timimi said Muslims should travel to Jerusalem and perform pilgrimage to Muslim holy places in the disputed city, backtracking on an earlier edict. "I withdraw my fatwa (edict) and now ask all Muslims and (Arab) Christians to creep into Jerusalem for a visit, satisfaction and shopping," al-Timimi said. The cleric's call comes amid reports that the United States is urging Arab nations to take some steps to normalize relations with Israel as incentives for the Jewish state to revive the peace process with Palestinians. - JERUSALEM POST.com

Jewish neighborhoods in east Jerusalem are included in the U.S. demand that Israel halt "settlement" construction, including for natural growth, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Monday. "We're talking about all settlement activity, yes, in the area across the line," he said, referring to neighborhoods in Jerusalem over the Green Line, or pre-1967 armistice line. President Barack Obama has called the settlements illegitimate and said that their expansion must stop, including natural growth. - THE JERUSALEM POST

President Obama and his administration told Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas last week the U.S. foresees the creation of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, according to a top PA official. "Americans said an open Jerusalem – yes. But a united Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty – no," Hatem Abdel Khader, the PA's minister for Jerusalem affairs, said in comments to both WND and Israel's Ynetnews website. - WORLD NET DAILY

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed in Jerusalem Thursday night that the Israeli flag will fly forever over the Western Wall (Kotel). His declaration was clearly intended as counterpoint to U.S. President Obama’s reported plan to force Israeli to surrender the Old City to international administration and hand over East Jerusalem to the Arabs. Jordan’s King Abdullah II claimed that the president suggested the idea during his visit to the White House last month. - ISRAEL INSIDER

One day after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu vowed never to divide Jerusalem, the French harshly condemned the comments, insisting instead that Jerusalem be a capital shared by the Palestinians and Israel. "In the eyes of France, Jerusalem needs to turn into a capital for two states," Foreign Ministry spokesman Frederic Desagneaux said on Friday. - JERUSALEM POST