{"id":950689,"date":"2017-12-08T07:02:48","date_gmt":"2017-12-07T23:02:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsinfo.inquirer.net\/?p=950689"},"modified":"2017-12-08T04:04:00","modified_gmt":"2017-12-07T20:04:00","slug":"arabs-europe-un-reject-trump-recognition-of-jerusalem-as-israels-capital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinfo.inquirer.net\/950689\/arabs-europe-un-reject-trump-recognition-of-jerusalem-as-israels-capital","title":{"rendered":"Arabs, Europe, UN reject Trump recognition of Jerusalem as Israel\u2019s capital"},"content":{"rendered":"
IT\u2019S OFFICIAL US President Donald Trump holds up a newly signed proclamation to officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. At right is Vice President Mike Pence. \u2014AP<\/p><\/div>\n\n
WASHINGTON\u2014Defying dire, worldwide warnings, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday broke with decades of US and international policy by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n\n
Despite urgent appeals from Arab and European leaders and the risk of anti-American protests and violence, Trump declared that he was ending an approach that for decades had failed to advance the prospects for peace.<\/p>\n\n
He also for the first time personally endorsed the concept of a \u201ctwo-state solution\u201d for Israel and the Palestinians, provided both sides agree to it.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cI have determined that it is time to officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel,\u201d he said in a White House address, calling it \u201coverdue\u201d and in the best interests of the United States.<\/p>\n\n
According to him, recognition acknowledged the \u201cobvious\u201d that Jerusalem is the seat of Israel\u2019s government despite the disputed status that is one of the key elements in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.<\/p>\n\n
\u2018Recognition of reality\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n \u201cThis is nothing more or less than the recognition of reality,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n Trump also directed that the US Department of State begin the process of moving the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem as required by US law.<\/p>\n\n Trump maintained that his decision would not compromise the city\u2019s geographic and political borders, which will still be determined by Israel and the Palestinians.<\/p>\n\n Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed Trump\u2019s announcement as a \u201chistoric landmark,\u201d but other close Western allies of Washington such as Britain and France were critical.<\/p>\n\n The European Union and United Nations also voiced alarm at Trump\u2019s decision, which was condemned by Arabs and Muslims across the Middle East.<\/p>\n\n Appeal for calm<\/strong><\/p>\n\n France rejected the \u201cunilateral\u201d decision while appealing for calm in the region.<\/p>\n\n Britain said the move would not help peace efforts and Jerusalem should ultimately be shared by Israel and a future Palestinian state.<\/p>\n\n Germany said Jerusalem\u2019s status could be resolved only on the basis of a two-state solution.<\/p>\n\n Netanyahu said in a prerecorded video message that it was \u201can important step toward peace\u201d and it was \u201cour goal from Israel\u2019s first day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n He added that any peace accord with the Palestinians would have to include Jerusalem as Israel\u2019s capital and he urged other countries to follow Trump\u2019s example.<\/p>\n\n Israel deems Jerusalem its eternal and indivisible capital dating to antiquity, and its status is one of the thorniest barriers to a lasting Israeli-Palestinian peace.<\/p>\n\n Six-Day War<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed it in a move not recognized internationally.<\/p>\n\n Palestinians claim East Jerusalem for the capital of an independent state they seek.<\/p>\n\n Jerusalem includes the holiest ground in Judaism. It\u2019s also home to Islam\u2019s third-holiest shrine and major Christian sites, and any perceived harm to Muslim claims to the city has triggered protests in the past, in the Holy Land and beyond.<\/p>\n\n Ahead of Trump\u2019s speech, Arab and Muslim leaders spoke about the potential for violence.<\/p>\n\n In Gaza, hundreds of Palestinian protesters burned American and Israeli flags.<\/p>\n\n They also waved Palestinian flags and banners proclaiming Jerusalem as their \u201ceternal capital,\u201d language that Israelis similarly use for their nation.<\/p>\n\n Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in a prerecorded speech, said Jerusalem was the \u201ceternal capital of the State of Palestine\u201d and that Trump\u2019s move was \u201ctantamount to the United States abdicating its role as a peace mediator.\u201d<\/p>\n\n The last round of US-brokered talks foundered in 2014 over issues including Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank and Israeli accusations of Palestinian incitement to violence and refusal to recognize it as a Jewish state.<\/p>\n\n \u2018Flagrant aggression\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which has dominated Gaza since soon after Israel ended a 38-year occupation in 2005, said Trump had committed a \u201cflagrant aggression against the Palestinian people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n Egypt, which forged the first Arab peace deal with Israel in 1979, brushed off Trump\u2019s decision and said it did not change Jerusalem\u2019s disputed legal status.<\/p>\n\n Jordan said Trump\u2019s action was \u201clegally null\u201d because it consolidated Israel\u2019s occupation of East Jerusalem.<\/p>\n\n Lebanese President Michel Aoun said Trump\u2019s decision was dangerous and threatened the credibility of the United States as a broker of Middle East peace.<\/p>\n\n Qatar\u2019s foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Adbulrahman al-Thani, said Trump\u2019s undertaking was a \u201cdeath sentence for all who seek peace\u201d and called it \u201ca dangerous escalation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n Turkey said Trump\u2019s move was \u201cirresponsible.\u201d\u2014WITH REPORTS FROM AP<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Defying dire, worldwide warnings, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday broke with decades of US and international policy by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel\u2019s capital. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":950690,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,43],"tags":[145654,647,49785,159558],"byline":[],"source":[],"column":[],"editor":[],"videographer":[],"position":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n