{"id":2430,"date":"2017-12-07T03:06:01","date_gmt":"2017-12-07T03:06:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/people.utm.my\/wanfahminfaiz\/?p=2430"},"modified":"2017-12-07T03:06:01","modified_gmt":"2017-12-07T03:06:01","slug":"trump-calls-jerusalem-plan-step-toward-peace-but-it-puts-mideast-on-edge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/wanfahminfaiz\/trump-calls-jerusalem-plan-step-toward-peace-but-it-puts-mideast-on-edge\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Calls Jerusalem Plan Step Toward Peace, but It Puts Mideast on Edge\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A viewpoint overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem on Wednesday. News that President Trump would formally recognize the city as Israel\u2019s capital seemed to be taking a bit of time to sink in.<\/span>Credit<\/span>Oded Balilty\/Associated Press<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

JERUSALEM \u2014 Palestinians burned photos of President Trump in Gaza, and the walls of the Old City were illuminated with the American and Israeli flags on Wednesday, as Mr. Trump made good on his campaign pledge to\u00a0recognize Jerusalem<\/a>\u00a0as Israel\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n

In a much-anticipated speech from the White House, Mr. Trump argued that it was \u201cthe right thing to do\u201d to acknowledge the reality that Jerusalem is the seat of Israel\u2019s government. Decades of avoiding that fact, he said, has done little to resolve the protracted feud between Israelis and Palestinians.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be folly to assume that repeating the exact same formula would now produce a different or better result,\u201d Mr. Trump declared. Recognizing Jerusalem as Israel\u2019s capital, he said, is \u201ca long overdue step to advance the peace process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Trump said that the United States still wanted a negotiated peace agreement \u2014 and \u201cwould support a two-state solution if agreed to by both sides\u201d \u2014 and that he was not seeking to dictate the boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in the fiercely contested Holy City.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will, of course, be disagreement and dissent regarding this announcement,\u201d the president said. He appealed for \u201ccalm, for moderation, and for the voices of tolerance to prevail over the purveyors of hate.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr. Trump\u2019s recognition of Jerusalem isolates the United States on one of the world\u2019s most sensitive diplomatic issues. It drew a storm of criticism from Arab and European leaders, including some of America\u2019s closest allies.<\/p>\n

Many said that Mr. Trump\u2019s move was destabilizing, that it risked setting off violence and that it would make achieving peace even more difficult. It also threw into doubt his ability to maintain the United States\u2019 longstanding role as a mediator of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.<\/p>\n

Mr. Trump\u2019s break with policy and international consensus included setting into motion a plan to move the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Although that will not happen right away, Palestinians saw it as a deep affront.<\/p>\n

The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, a veteran of the peace process, said bitterly that the United States had effectively scrapped it. Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, called for the abandonment of a two-state solution altogether.<\/p>\n

Among Israelis, however, Mr. Trump\u2019s announcement drew praise, not only from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s right-wing government but also from liberal opposition leaders. \u201cThe Jewish people and the Jewish state will be forever grateful,\u201d Mr. Netanyahu said in a video, calling Mr. Trump\u2019s decision \u201ccourageous and just\u201d and \u201can important step towards peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yair Lapid, the leader of Yesh Atid, a center-left opposition party, said: \u201cPolicies should not be dictated by threats and intimidation. If violence is the only argument against moving the embassy to Jerusalem, then it only proves it is the right thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Naftali Bennett, the education minister and leader of the right-wing Jewish Home party, said American recognition of Jerusalem as Israel\u2019s capital \u201cshows that Israel\u2019s strategic patience has paid off.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been told again and again that if we want more acceptance, we have to cut off parts of Israel and hand them over to our enemies,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat we are learning is the contrary: The world respects strong countries who believe in themselves and looks down on countries willing to give up their homeland.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet Israelis also braced for violence, as some Palestinian leaders urged a third intifada, or armed uprising.<\/p>\n

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Israeli border police patrolling the alleys of the Old City of Jerusalem on Wednesday.<\/span>Credit<\/span>Atef Safadi\/European Pressphoto Agency<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fatah, Hamas and other Palestinian factions called a general strike for Thursday, urging residents of the West Bank and Gaza to join marches in every city, and officials said the Palestinian schools would be closed. Hamas, an Islamic militant group, said Mr. Trump\u2019s decision would \u201copen the gates of hell,\u201d and Islamic Jihad called it a \u201cdeclaration of war.\u201d<\/p>\n

By late Wednesday night, there were only scattered, unconfirmed reports of gunfire and clashes with security forces in several West Bank cities.<\/p>\n

But the United States Consulate General in Jerusalem barred American government employees and their families from visiting Jerusalem\u2019s Old City and the West Bank, including Bethlehem, already decorated for Christmas. Government workers were permitted to conduct essential travel only. American citizens were advised to avoid crowds.<\/p>\n

In Jordan, the United States Embassy said it had suspended routine public services, limited the public movements of employees and their families and instructed them not to send their children to school on Thursday.<\/p>\n

But even as Arab and Muslim leaders across the Middle East condemned Mr. Trump\u2019s announcement, doubts were raised about the stamina of the anger. The Palestinian issue, long a binding force in Arab politics, has slipped in importance in recent years, overshadowed by other conflicts. Still, the American decision risked a backlash with unpredictable consequences.<\/p>\n

Palestinians across the political spectrum said Mr. Trump\u2019s decision was so biased toward Israel that he had irrevocably harmed his administration\u2019s ability to be seen as a fair broker.<\/p>\n

Analysts noted that Mr. Trump had said nothing about Palestinian aspirations to make East Jerusalem the capital of a state side-by-side with Israel.<\/p>\n

Mr. Trump made no distinction between the western portions of the city and East Jerusalem. The Old City landmarks he invoked \u2014 the Western Wall holy to Jews, the stations of the cross sacred to Christians, and Al-Aqsa mosque, which is cherished by Muslims \u2014 are all east of the 1967 line, in what the rest of the world still considers occupied territory, said Nathan Thrall, an expert on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the International Crisis Group<\/p>\n

Mr. Trump\u2019s formulation that the United States \u201cwould support a two-state solution if agreed to by both sides,\u201d too, amounted to a rolling back of United States policy flatly supporting a two-state solution, said Daniel Kurtzer, a Princeton professor and former ambassador to Israel under President George W. Bush.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s really not much for Abbas to hang onto if he wanted to stay in the game with the U.S.,\u201d Mr. Kurtzer said.<\/p>\n

Mr. Trump\u2019s decision was driven by a campaign pledge. He appealed to evangelicals and ardently pro-Israel American Jews when running for president in 2016 by vowing to move the embassy. Advisers said he was determined to make good on his word.<\/p>\n

But the president still plans to sign a national security waiver to keep the embassy in Tel Aviv for an additional six months, even as the relocation plan moves ahead.<\/p>\n

White House officials argued that Mr. Trump\u2019s decision would bolster his credibility as a peacemaker by showing he can be trusted to deliver on promises. They also argued that by taking the contentious issue of Jerusalem off the table, Mr. Trump had removed a recurring source of ambiguity.<\/p>\n

Those arguments were rejected by Mr. Abbas, who said in a televised speech Wednesday night that Mr. Trump\u2019s actions \u201cconstitute a deliberate undermining of all peace efforts\u201d and amounted to a \u201cwithdrawal\u201d from America\u2019s role.<\/p>\n

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Protesters burning Israeli and American flags in Gaza City on Wednesday.<\/span>\u00a0Credit<\/span>Mohammed Salem\/Reuters<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The decisions on the embassy and recognition of Jerusalem \u201calso reward Israel for denying agreements and defying international resolutions, and encourage Israel to pursue the policy of occupation, settlement, apartheid and ethnic cleansing,\u201d Mr. Abbas said, speaking in Arabic that was translated by Wafa, the Palestinian news agency.<\/p>\n

Yet the Palestinians, weak and divided, did not appear to have many good options or any clear, ready response.<\/p>\n

Some raised the idea of severing security cooperation with Israel, but that cooperation also helps preserve Mr. Abbas\u2019s authority. And breaking more forcefully with the United States could jeopardize the vast sums of aid the Palestinian Authority receives from Washington.<\/p>\n

Mr. Abbas said he would focus on reconciliation efforts with Hamas to face the new challenge. But the American declaration could actually hurt those efforts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis development will push Hamas to become more hard-line,\u201d said Ghassan Khatib, a Palestinian political scientist at Birzeit University in the West Bank. \u201cAbbas will not change his political line, so the gap will grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Diana Buttu, a Palestinian lawyer-activist and former aide to Mr. Abbas, said the peace process had failed him. \u201cHe has to switch tactics,\u201d she said, pointing to international measures like the boycott-divestment-sanctions campaign and pressing charges against Israelis in the International Criminal Court.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoing nothing is no longer an option,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Mr. Thrall, the analyst, said the two-state strategy had been losing credibility among Palestinians for some time, particularly among the young. And Mr. Trump\u2019s actions, he said, would push more Palestinians toward what he called \u201ca rights-based struggle for equality,\u201d and \u201ca one-state, South African model for Palestinians.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing better symbolizes for Palestinians the idiocy of the strategy that their leaders have been pursuing and the absolute fruitlessness of it than what just happened at the White House today,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s standing in the world generally suffers when there is no prospect of peace negotiations. But Israelis on both the right and left dismissed the notion that Mr. Trump\u2019s declaration was a death knell.<\/p>\n

The right described it as more of a reality check. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter what Trump says,\u201d said Efraim Inbar, president of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategic Studies, a conservative think tank. \u201cIt matters if the Palestinians are ready to compromise on this issue or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Mr. Netanyahu could now face a new set of political problems from Mr. Trump\u2019s announcement, including increased pressure from key allies to press Israel\u2019s advantage over the Palestinians.<\/p>\n

Already, there is a push to redraw the boundaries of Jerusalem to eject much of its Arab population and add tens of thousands of residents to Israeli settlements.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe problem he\u2019s going to have is, will he now be able to control the appetites of those in his coalition who want to do even more?\u201d Mr. Kurtzer said.<\/p>\n

Others warned that Israel might have to pay a price down the road if Mr. Trump \u2014 assuming he is serious about peacemaking \u2014 offers a concession to the Palestinians.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe next time Trump wants something from Israel,\u201d said Nachman Shai, a Labor Party member of the Knesset, \u201cI\u2019d like to see who will say no.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Source: Trump Calls Jerusalem Plan Step Toward Peace, but It Puts Mideast on Edge – The New York Times<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A viewpoint overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem on Wednesday. News that President Trump would formally recognize the city as Israel\u2019s capital seemed to be taking a bit of time to sink in.CreditOded Balilty\/Associated Press JERUSALEM \u2014 Palestinians burned photos of President Trump in Gaza, and the walls of the Old City were illuminated with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13826,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/wanfahminfaiz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/wanfahminfaiz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/wanfahminfaiz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/wanfahminfaiz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13826"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/wanfahminfaiz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2430"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/wanfahminfaiz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2430\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2434,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/wanfahminfaiz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2430\/revisions\/2434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/wanfahminfaiz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/wanfahminfaiz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/wanfahminfaiz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}