President Trump's Jerusalem Statement Is A Blessing in Disguise For Muslims
31 December 2017By Saeed Qureshi
American president Donald Trump's announcement of recognition of Jerusalem as
the capitol of the state of Israel on December 6 is unacceptable and repugnant
to the Islamic fraternity around the world. This decision reverses the USA
stance maintained for several decades on this sensitive matter.
President Trump also plans to move the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv to
Jerusalem which is also holy city for the Muslims, Jews and Christians alike.
Although some of the previous presidents had been declaring to recognize
Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state but those proclamations were
never implemented.
However, in fact, this uncalled-for decision should be viewed as a blessing in
disguise for the Muslims. In recent years and decades, the Muslims have never
been united on an issue as the one announced by Trump. This combustible issue
of recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of the state of Israel has catapulted
a combined reaction and nurtured solidarity among over 2 billion Muslims and
49 Islamic states irrespective of their mutual differences and discords
premised upon faith, region and ethnicity.
Its is heartening and rather amazing to see the religiously and regionally
mutually hostile Islamic states of Iran and Saudi Arabia joining hands against
Trump and Israel. They have demonstrated collective reaction and solidarity on
this grave matter that has been the fundamental bane of discord between Israel
and Palestinians as well as between the rest of the Islamic world and Israel.
Palestinian officials have declared that the decision disqualifies the United
States from peace talks. Palestinians' militant group Hamas has called for a
new intifada following Trump's declaration. There have been demonstrations in
Iran, Jordan, Tunisia, Somalia, Yemen, Malaysia and Indonesia, and outside the
U.S. embassy in Berlin. Four people were killed in clashes in Palestine
including two Hamas members.
President Trump since his inauguration has openly manifested hostility towards
the Muslims both living within the United States and across the globe by his
myriad anti-Muslims statements and taking certain decisions to defame and harm
the Muslims. With his peculiar and unpredictable temperament and propensity of
taking kneed jerk decisions, he has come to be known as the most trenchant
anti- Muslims president of the United States.
He has been issuing executive orders to bar and ban the arrival of the Muslims
into the USA as genuine immigrants or for some other cogent reasons. Lately a
ban has been placed on immigrants from six Islamic countries. Due to
Judiciary's intervention his anti-Muslims' immigration orders couldn't be
actually implemented. He doesn't show any inhibition in declaring the Muslims
as terrorists. By such hard stance and rigid anti-Muslims bent of mind he has
driven a wedge of hostility and discord between the USA and the Islamic bloc.
This doesn't seem to be a prudent policy to antagonize the Muslims and thus
alienating USA from nurturing and promoting goodwill as well as social,
cultural and economic bonds which can be fruitful to both USA and the Muslim
countries replete with productive manpower and natural resources.
It is no more possible for the militarily stronger countries such as USA and
USSR to subdue the smaller nations by use of military force and imposing
economic sanctions. As such the period of cold war and arm-twisting in the
aftermath of the second world is coming to an end. If a tiny country like
North Korea can browbeat and resist the hegemonic and intimidating threats of
president Trump by counterpoising in the same bullying jargon and defiance,
how could other countries with huge resources, manpower and strong armies can
submit to the threats and use of force by the USA.
In the meantime, many countries both Islamic and non-Islamic have denounced
Trump's decision which they think could lead to fresh fighting between the
Palestinians and Israel. There have been unremitting protests in all the
Muslim countries generally and in Palestine specifically over this myopic
decision by president Trump.
The USA seems to be isolated because of this colossally faulty decision which
will be resisted by the Muslims until it was withdrawn. It is such a sensitive
issue on which the Muslims particularly the Palestinians can never compromise.
As such president Trump has alienated USA from most of the Islamic polities
and it may limit the America's goodwill in bilateral relations with those
states.
President Trump justified his decision by arguing that recognizing Jerusalem
was a long overdue step to advance the peace process. He talked of brokering
an agreement that would prove to be a great deal both for the Israelis and the
Palestinians. About moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, president Trump
claimed that this decision was part of his pledge that he made during his
elections campaign last year.
The Arabs, Muslim and European leaders, have vigorously opposed and decried
Trump decision which is believed to spark bitterness and unleash a new wave of
violence across the region and renewal of fighting between the Palestinians
and Israeli security forces as was done in the past for many decades.
Among the world leaders who decried Trump's solo decision and considered it as
a threat to the peace in the Middle East are European Union's top diplomat,
Federica Mogherini, Pope Francis, and the Chinese foreign ministry.
John O. Brennan, the former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, said
in a statement that Mr. Trump's action was "reckless and would "damage U.S.
interests in the Middle East for years to come and will make the region more
volatile."
Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital was rejected by
the majority of world leaders. The United Nations Security Council held an
emergency meeting on 7 December where 14 out of 15 members condemned Trump's
decision. The Security Council said the decision to recognize Jerusalem was in
violation of U.N. resolutions and international law, but was unable to issue a
statement without the endorsement of the United States.
Britain, France, Sweden, Italy and Japan were among the countries who
criticized Trump's decision at the emergency meeting. Shortly before Trump's
announcement, in November 2017 while 151 countries of the United Nations
General Assembly voted to reject Israeli ties to Jerusalem. Six nations voted
against the resolution, and nine abstained.
The European Union's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini emphasized that
"all governments of EU member states were united on the issue of Jerusalem,
and reaffirmed their commitment to a Palestinian State with East Jerusalem as
its capital. On 9 December, Turkey announced that that President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan would be working with French president Emmanuel Macron in a joint
effort to persuade the United States to reconsider its decision
Under the 1947 UN Partition Plan to divide historical Palestine between Jewish
and Arab states, Jerusalem was granted special status and was meant to be
placed under international sovereignty and control. The special status was
based on Jerusalem's religious importance to the three Abrahamic religions.
Palestinians view East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state,
and most of the world considers it occupied territory. Jerusalem's Old City
has the third-holiest mosque in Islam and the holiest site in Judaism, making
the city's status a sensitive issue for Muslims and Jews alike. Jerusalem is
also sacred place for the Christians.
In the meantime, Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner and
special envoy Jason D. Greenblatt, have been working for months behind the
curtain to arrange negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians without any
tangible progress.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that "President's announcement did not
indicate any final status for Jerusalem and it was very clear that the final
status, including the borders, would be left to the two parties to negotiate
and decide".
The writer is a senior journalist, former editor of Diplomatic Times and a
former diplomat. This and other articles by the writer can also be read at his
blog www.uprightopinion.com
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