I condemn Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as
Israel’s capital, which has been rejected by the majority of world leaders.
Shortly before Trump’s announcement, in November 2017, 151 nations of the
United Nations General Assembly voted to reject Israeli ties to Jerusalem . Six
nations voted against the resolution, and nine abstained. All the Muslim
countries of the world including Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have strongly
condemned the decision and have shown their timely and the right support for
Palestinian Muslims.
President Trump is known for his controversial decision
within USA but now he is disturbing international order by giving such
statements, which imply that USA is tending to bury the issue of Palestine. The
United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting on December 7 where
14 out of 15 members condemned Trump’s decision. The Security Council said the
decision to recognise Jerusalem was in violation of UN 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, which criticised Trump’s decision in the emergency meeting.
The T.V channels are roaring with protests against the
recognition of Jerusalem as the capital by USA and the write ups on this
subject forced me to think as to why this has been attracted attention of the
world? I think USA has deliberately re-announced it with some motives to
benifit Israel.
America has always backed Israel’s decisions of putting an
unjust claim to the Palestinian soil. Back in 2002, when Israel started
building a “security fence” claiming to protect Israeli citizens from suicide
bombers, it clearly violated the international law. Israel still continues to
do that with the support of US. The entire world witnessed that the separation
wall created by the Israelis is a major de facto annexation of Palestinian
territories. Israel’s goal all along was to increase settlement expansion and
to control Palestinian economic areas, agricultural grounds and natural
resources like water. The annexation of the land of Palestinians by Israel
continues, even though the International Court of Justice has ruled that the
West Bank Barrier of Israel is in complete violation of International Law.
Currently Israel occupies 261 Jewish-only settlements and ‘outposts’, which are
forcefully built on Palestinian land, confiscated by carrying out violent
operations.
Israel has fooled the world time and again by launching
hostile operations on Palestinians, particularly on Gaza, claiming to protect
its citizens. In the turmoil of war waged by Israelis on innocent Palestinians,
at least 48,488 Palestinian homes have been demolished by Israel, whereas not
even a single Israeli home has been damaged since 1967. Furthermore, at least
9,510 Palestinians are killed since September 29, 2000 and 95,299 Palestinians
have been injured. However, US continues its unconventional support to Israel;
in year 2016 alone, U.S. provided Israel with at least $10.1 million per day in
military aid.
The tension between the member states in the Middle East has
always been a key area of interest for the US. Saudi Arabia and Iran both are
Muslim majority states, but diplomatically do not see eye to eye on several geo
political issues, oil export policies and alliances. For months, America tried
to build on harmonious relations with the Middle Eastern countries and it
seemed as if the new government aimed at strengthening the ties among allies.
The recent visit of US president to Saudi Arabia and the deal
made gave an indication of intentions. However, now the recent decision of
Donald Trump will aggravate the political atmosphere in the Middle East,
because of the religious implication the city of Jerusalem hold in the Muslim
World. Yet US was aiming to take the allies along with the decision, hence
leading to a rise in temperature in the political environment.
The recent meeting of Muslim head of states duly chaired by
Donald Trump was very meaningful and helpful for USA. It is believed that the intel
regarding the Iranian motives against Saudi Arabia was provided by Israel,
through the visiting American authority.
The similar information believed to
have been passed against Qatar too, which obviously has created a wedge within
the Muslim Ummah.
Moreover, USA may have its next move to manipulate some
Muslim states to recognize Jerusalem as Capital of Israel. In fact, USA and
Israel are glued together because of strong hold of the Jewish lobby in the
economy and media of the US. More so, the backing of Fox group to Donald Trump
is no more a secret and naturally Donald Trump cannot survive without Jewsish
lobby in the USA. So, helping Israel has become a compulsion for President
Donald Trump.
Now media from Muslims world will certainly make Jerusalem
even more disputed as a capital. I see a serious rift developing between Iran
and Saudi Arabia and in the meantime there would be row between Israel on the
statement of Army Chief of Iran claiming to destroy Israel in seven and half
minutes. The recent statements of the crown prince of Saudi Arabia against
Iran, and the statements of Iranian officials against Saudi Arabia should be
taken seriously as it can trigger worst situation. Moreover, the world may
witness Israel backing some Muslim countries against Iran in the near future as
the events unfold.
The confrontation between Iran and Saudi Arabia will further
divide the Muslim Ummah and its beneficiaries will be countries like Israel.
The past growth of Israel and its ongoing affairs with USA and India will be a
power boaster in pursuit for the symbolically acceptance of Jerusalem as
Capital followed by its recognition as a country. Lot of people see it as a
right of a sovereign state to recognize any other state but this issue is
different as the region is disputed and Palestinian land is under forced
occupation of Israel. Has USA forgotten the most recent mass killing of women
and children in Gaza?
USA should have realised that Jerusalem is religiously
important to Muslims for many reasons. First of all, Jerusalem was Islam’s
first direction of prayer (Qibla), before this was changed to Makkah. These
sentiments and the change of Qibla for Muslims are recorded in the Qur’an
2:142-152. Jerusalem was also a key stage of the Prophet Muhammad’s (S.A.W.) profound
nocturnal spiritual journey known as al-Isra’ wal-Mi’raj (“the night journey
and ascension”) during which he had a vision of God. Muslim are right in their
protest as this area is disputed land and Donald Trump has deliberately
declared Jerusalem as capital of Israel, which would rightly charge the
emotions of the Muslim.
It looks like that USA has been bent upon to further add fire
into the Israel - Palestine issue by making such unwarranted recognition . We
need to demand from Donald Trump to immediately withdraw this decision and to
apologize from the entire Muslim world for making this relentless decision of
recognizing Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel.
The Article was published by The Nation on December 15, 2017 and the link to the original article is
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