US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital would fuel violence: Palestinian leaders

NEW YORK, Dec. 3 (APP):Any move by the United States to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital would lead to violent extremism,
Palestinian leaders have warned.
The warnings come as US President Donald Trump is expected to announce next week whether to move
the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Reports emerged on Friday that Trump could again delay shifting the embassy, but recognize Jerusalem
as the capital of Israel, a move that would rewrite long-standing US policy and ignite tensions in the Middle
East and beyond.
Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s executive committee, warned
in an interview with The New York Times that it could lead to repercussions “that would not be easily
contained,” including violence. To people who are looking for an excuse, this would be a ready-made
excuse.
The Palestinians want Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, and the international community
does not recognize Israel’s claim on all of the city, home to sites holy to the Muslim, Christian and Jewish
religions.
Trump’s announcement, expected in a speech on Wednesday, would amount to the not-quite
fulfillment of a campaign promise to move the United States Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv,
a step for which many of Trump’s Jewish and evangelical supporters, and their allies in the Israeli
right wing, have been clamoring.
So far, the United States, along with the rest of the world, has not recognized the Holy City as
Israeli territory, particularly since the Arab-Israeli War of 1967, when Israel captured East
Jerusalem.
In the Times’ interview, Ms. Ashrawi, said dispensing with that longstanding reticence would
reveal the United States as “incredibly one-sided and biased” that it would be the total annihilation
of any chances of peace, or any American role in peacemaking.
They are sending a clear message to the world: We’re done,” she said.Trump’s declaring
Jerusalem the capital would carry great symbolic power, Palestinian officials pointed out.
“If anything, it is worse, actually,” Nasser al-Kidwa, a member of the central committee of
Fatah and a nephew of late Yasir Arafat, its onetime leader. Recognition matters, he said,
“not the stones” of an embassy building.
Ahmed Yousef, an adviser to Ismail Haniya, leader of Hamas, was similarly critical of
Trump’s expected declaration. “I don’t understand why he wants to antagonize over a billion
Muslims around the world,” he said.
Saeb Erekat, secretary-general of the PLO Executive Committee, says he has spoken
to Arab leaders, who have relayed the message “that Jerusalem is a red-line, not just for
Palestinians but for Arabs, Muslims and Christian everywhere”.
Erekat, who is in the United States for medical treatment, said: “Everyone has
informed the US administration that Jerusalem isn’t just a Palestinian question, it’s an
Arab, Islamic and Christian question.
The specific way in which Trump makes his declaration, however, could mean a significantly
different response on both sides of the conflict, according to the Times. If he just refers to “Jerusalem
as Israel’s capital, or refers to the city’s present municipal borders, rump would be likely to set off a
strong backlash in much of the Arab world, the newspaper said, citing analysts.
For Palestinians, this will be perceived as dividing the cake while negotiating over it,Ofer Zalzberg,
a Jerusalem-based analyst at International Crisis Group, said.If Trump were to limit his statement to West Jerusalem, however, it would likely antagonize supporters in the pro-Israel camp, by undercutting their claim to a united capital throughout the city and acknowledging Palestinian claims on East Jerusalem.Any attempt at deliberate ambiguity is unlikely to fly because the United States will be forced to specify the territorial definition of Jerusalem that the president was relying upon, Daniel Shapiro, who was President Barack Obama’s ambassador to Israel, was quoted assaying.
The timing of Trump’s declaration was baffling both to those who warned against it and some who welcomed it.
“It accomplishes so little that I wonder if it’s worth that headache,” he said. No Arab leader has more at risk in a cementing of Israel’s hold on Jerusalem as its capital than King Abdullah II of Jordan, whose dynasty has defined
itself as the custodian of Al Aqsa Mosque. Zalzberg said Trump’s declaration “could contribute dramatically to the erosion of the King’s popularity and legitimacy.”
Abdullah has been in Washington for more than a week, pressing the administration not to take this step,
according to Arab news media. Petra, the Jordanian news agency, said the King had warned that changing
the United States’ posture on Jerusalem would threaten a two-state solution and “could be potentially
exploited by terrorists to stoke anger, frustration and desperation in order to spread their ideologies.”
Palestinian officials across the political spectrum made similar warnings. In Gaza, Hamas issued a
statement calling on Palestinians to “incite an uprising in Jerusalem so that this conspiracy does not
pass.” Mr. Yousef, the adviser to the Hamas leader, said Mr. Trump’s move would drive up anti-American
sentiment and “decimate whatever goodwill they have here.”And a Hamas representative based in
Lebanon, Ali Barakeh, said the group would probably respond to Mr. Trump by calling for a new intifada,
or uprising, and for Mr. Abbas to quit negotiations, ” the Americans won’t achieve anything for
them.”
Meanwhile, the General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring Israel’s actions in East Jerusalem”
null and void” that isolated and targeted a single Member State.
After the debate concluded, the Assembly adopted the draft resolution “Jerusalem by a recorded vote
of 151 in favour to 6 against (Canada, Federated States of Micronesia, Israel, Marshall Islands, Nauru,
United States), with 9 abstentions (Australia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Honduras, Panama,
Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, South Sudan, Togo).
By that text, the 193-member Assembly reiterated that any actions by Israel, the occupying Power,
to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the Holy City of Jerusalem were illegal and therefore
null and void. It further stressed the need for the parties to refrain from provocative actions, especially
in areas of religious and cultural sensitivity, and called for respect for the historic status quo at the holy
places of Jerusalem.