Abbas says he won’t make concessions on Jerusalem

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has told a cheering audience in a fiery speech that “the Palestinian people won’t kneel” and won’t drop demands to establish a capital in east Jerusalem.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is trying to forge an agreement between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the outlines of a peace deal, which also would address the fate of Jerusalem.

The Palestinians want a capital in east Jerusalem, one of the areas Israel captured in 1967. Netanyahu has previously rejected a partition. Abbas and his aides fear that Kerry’s proposal, expected in the coming weeks, only will contain a vague reference to Palestinian “aspirations” in the city.

Abbas warned Saturday that “there will be no peace” without a Palestinian capital in east Jerusalem.