With the announcement of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, President Donald Trump has reversed US policy in the Middle East by alienating the decades old relations with the Arab world,inviting condemnation from the countries, grave threat from the terror world and the unrest.
The US president said that he had “determined it is time to officially recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel”. “I’ve judged this course of action to be in the best interests of the United States of America and the pursuit of peace between Israel and the Palestinians,” he said.
Trump has argued that he acted under a 1995 law passed by the then Congress during former President Bill Clinton to move the US embassy to Jerusalem.
Jerusalem, located between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea is sacred to Jews, Muslims and Christians. Jerusalem has been the core issue of the conflict between Israel and Palestine as both Israelis and Palestinians have been fighting for decades to get the control of the ancient city as their capital,however, neither claim has been recognized in the international arena. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Jerusalem was divided into East and West and during the six day Arab Israel war in 1967 Israel seized East Jerusalem from Jordian forces and declared as annexed.
The ongoing struggle between Israelis and Palestinians has been considered as the world’s “most intractable conflict” that began in the mid-20th century and Trump’s decision has revived the Gaza and West Bank violence. With this reckless and drastic move, Trump has permanently closed even the remote possibility of finding the peaceful resolution to the two-state solution. Palestinians and other world leaders say the move would spark violence and unhinge prospects for a Middle East peace accord.
US allies from Britain, France and Germany in Europe to Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt in the Middle East have withdrawn support to the Trump’s decision with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas saying that the US could no longer be a mediator in Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations and refuses to acknowledge President Donald Trump’s contentious move.
Even US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary James Mattis opposed the move and his own cabinet members have questioned Trump about his grasp on the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Yemen based Islamist militant group Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has condemned the US decision and called on militants to close ranks to support Palestinians.
In the statement carried by the U.S. SITE monitoring group, the Yemen-based AQAP said Trump’s decision was the result of what it said were “normalisation steps” between some Gulf Arab countries and Israel.
“It is also a clear challenge to the Muslim world that sees the centrality of the Palestinian cause,” the group said. “In the face of this serious events, we stand by our people in Palestine and support them with all we possess.”
Trump acted like a businessman while dealing with North Korea and Middle East conflict to pull up his poor ratings at home. President also faces biggest test in the midterm elections in November 2018 when the whole House of Representatives, a third of the Senate, and most governorships will be at stake, along with hundreds of state legislative seats and local offices around the country.
While Hamas has called for new Palestinian uprising (Intifada) against Israel following Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.The first intifada began in 1987 after Israeli troops killed four Palestinians at a checkpoint in Gaza and an Israeli soldier opened fire on protesting Palestinians, killing a 17-year-old.
The Oslo Accords between the Israeli government and the Palestine Liberation Organization, the setting up of the Palestinian Authority and Israeli withdrawals from the West Bank brought an end to that intifada in 1993. The second intifada began in September 2000 and it ended months after the death of Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat in November 2004. There are fears the announcement could lead to a renewed outbreak of violence.
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