CFOW Update – Trump & Jerusalem
December 6, 2017
Hello All – President Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital represents a major change in the US stated position on Jerusalem and the goal of establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Protests against Trump's announcement are likely not only in Israel/Palestine, but throughout much of the world. As such, there is a significant possibility that the Jerusalem move may lead to new/renewed warfare in the Middle East. The purpose of this short Update is to provide some alternative news and analysis to what I expect will be the focus of the mainstream media.
Best wishes,
Frank Brodhead
For CFOW
For Westchester residents, NB that Members of Congress Eliot Engel and Nita Lowey and Senator Charles Schumer have strongly endorsed Trump's policy on Jerusalem. (No information about the response by Kirsten Gillibrand has appeared in the news or on her website.)
Senator Charles Schumer – "Charles Schumer advised President Trump to declare Jerusalem the "undivided" capital of Israel ahead of Trump's expected announcement on the matter this week, the New York Democrat told The Weekly Standard on Tuesday.
Rep. Eliot Engel – "President Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel drew support from one of the top Democratic foreign policy leaders in Congress. 'This decision is long overdue and helps correct a decades-long indignity,' New York Rep. Eliot Engel, the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, said Wednesday. Engel is one of the more hawkish Democrats in Congress, most notably having challenged former President Barack Obama's nuclear agreement with Iran. 'I support the decision to recognize Jerusalem as the eternal capital of Israel and to move the U.S. embassy there,' the New York Democrat said." The Washington Examiner
Reo, Nita Lowey — "Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the State of Israel and the Jewish people. I was proud to vote for the Jerusalem Embassy Act, which demonstrated Congress' unified position that Jerusalem should be recognized as the capital of Israel, and today's announcement is consistent with existing U.S. law. "We must remain focused on the goal of two states for two peoples – the Jewish state of Israel and a Palestinian state – living side-by-side in peace, security, and mutual recognition. The Administration must focus its efforts on bringing both sides to the table, as only the parties themselves can agree to end this conflict." The San Diego Jewish World
Jewish Voice for Peace and J-Street made statements in opposition to Trump's move.
Jewish Voice for Peace unequivocally condemns President Trump's announcement that he will begin the process of moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem as part of recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital, a move that would make the U.S. the only country in the world to do so. This move is counter to international law and is a clear attempt by Israel and the U.S. to consolidate Israeli annexation of land. This move is reckless, endangering the lives of Palestinians and Israelis on the ground. Since Israel unilaterally annexed the eastern half of Jerusalem in 1967, the international community has considered it to be occupied territory. By recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital, Trump is endorsing Israeli policies of dispossession and forcible transfer, further harming the rights and lives of Palestinians and crushing any hope for a peace based on equality and freedom for everyone in the region. Jerusalem is home to people of multiple faiths and religions, including almost 40 percent of whom are Palestinian. This move irrevocably demonstrates that the U.S. and Israel are colluding to violate the rights of Palestinians and sabotage any real possibility for an equitable agreement. [Read More] And you can sign a JVP petition that will be sent to your congressional representative here.
J Street ("The Political Home for Pro-Israel, Pro-Peace Americans") headlined their statement "Trump's Change of US Policy on Jerusalem Undermines Peace Efforts, Could Lead to Violence." And the statement continued, "President Trump's announcement today that the United States recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is an unhelpful step with no tangible benefits, only serious risks. Contradicting decades of bipartisan presidential policy, it does nothing to advance, and could seriously undermine, the administration's stated commitment to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict while potentially threatening Israel's security and alienating Arab regional partners. With this announcement, the question of whether and when the embassy is actually moved becomes a moot point. The act of recognizing Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem prior to a negotiated peace agreement will have the same damaging impact as an actual move of the embassy.
The liberal Israeli newspaper Haaretz published an editorial today, "Jerusalem: Two Capitals for Two Peoples": "Instead of unilateral declarations favoring one side, the goal must be West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and East Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state."
Finally, here are links to a few good/useful articles that I hope will put today's news in perspective.
No "Peace Process" Exists to Destroy, But Trump's Jerusalem Decision Dangerous as Hell
By
----Trump's plan to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and potentially to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is not going to undermine peace efforts—because there are no peace efforts underway. Protests have already begun, and anger is rising not only among Palestinians but across the Arab and Muslim worlds, among numerous governments including key U.S. allies, and among people across the globe. Understanding what this move represents means viewing it from two different perspectives. Taken at face value, recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital reflects Trump's need to placate his key Israel-backing donors, particularly the casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, and the Christian Zionist component of his rightwing evangelical base. … The second perspective has far more to do with the regional situation, and the war-driven anti-diplomacy foreign policy of the Trump administration. Aside from donor pressure, U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the threat to move the embassy, have to be seen in the context of the effort led by Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner to consolidate a powerful anti-Iran coalition across the Middle East with ostensible enemies Israel and Saudi Arabia at its core. [Read More]
Palestinian officials say, Trump 'destroyed' the two-state solution
By Allison Deger, Mondoweiss [December 6, 2017]
---- Speaking in Ramallah Saeb Erekat, a former senior Palestinian negotiator, told reporters, "I think President Trump tonight disqualified the United States of America to play any role in any peace process."
"Unfortunately, president Trump just destroyed any possibility of a two-state [solution]. He has taken an action that recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, this is in total contradiction of an agreement signed between Palestinian officials and Israelis," he continued. Erekat did not indicate if the Palestinians would not longer continue with Trump administration's efforts to seek a peace deal. [Read More]
With Jerusalem Move, Trump Sabotages His Own Mideast Peace Process
By Robin Wright, The New Yorker [December 6, 2017]
---- President Trump threw a diplomatic bomb into the Middle East peace process with his twin decisions to formally recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to move the U.S. Embassy there from Tel Aviv. The decision broke with seven decades of U.S. policy by both Republican and Democratic Administrations. It defied every ally, save Israel, and disregarded a last-ditch global campaign that included key figures from the world's three monotheistic religions—Pope Francis, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, and American Jewish groups. Trump's decision fulfilled a campaign promise, but it threatened to unravel one of his top foreign-policy pledges: to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians, who have already called for "three days of rage" in response. [Read More]
