{"id":103333,"date":"2017-12-11T12:00:22","date_gmt":"2017-12-11T12:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=103333"},"modified":"2017-12-10T18:33:55","modified_gmt":"2017-12-10T18:33:55","slug":"what-trumps-recognition-of-jerusalem-as-the-capital-of-israel-means-for-the-middle-east","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2017\/12\/what-trumps-recognition-of-jerusalem-as-the-capital-of-israel-means-for-the-middle-east\/","title":{"rendered":"What Trump\u2019s Recognition of Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel Means for the Middle East"},"content":{"rendered":"
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via shutterstock.com<\/p><\/div>\n

6 Dec 2017 – <\/em>Donald Trump\u2019s decision to recognise Jerusalem<\/a> as the capital of Israel, and start preparations for the US to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to the contested city, has the potential to further inflame tensions across the Middle East.<\/p>\n

Although this is not an unexpected move \u2013 Trump expressed his intention<\/a> to do so during his electoral campaign \u2013 the decision breaks with years of precedent.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s decision to move the embassy means he will not follow his predecessors by renewing a waiver on the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995<\/a>, which required the embassy to eventually be moved from Tel Aviv.<\/p>\n

Since then, there has been a cross-party consensus in the US that any act which recognises the annexation of East Jerusalem by Israel and its designation as the country\u2019s capital would affect the fragile balance of power in the Middle East \u2013 and the ability of the US to promote its interests in the region. US diplomats have sought to tread carefully on this issue in one of the world\u2019s most treacherous political landscapes.<\/p>\n

The Palestinian leadership condemned<\/a> the move before Trump spoke, as did leaders from the Arab world and beyond. The announcement of the embassy move is likely to cause a wave of resentment among Palestinians in the occupied territories and the city itself, especially after two decades of stalemate in the peace process and deteriorating conditions<\/a> throughout the Palestinian territories. Ahead of the speech, US citizens and government employees were told to avoid<\/a> Jerusalem\u2019s Old City and the West Bank until further notice.<\/p>\n

Central to the peace process<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jerusalem is not just a city of historical importance to Judaism, Islam and Christianity, but also a site key to both Israeli and Palestinian identity. Add to this the centrality of the status of Jerusalem in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, often described as one of the world\u2019s most intractable disputes, and it\u2019s clear why the decision to move the US embassy there has been described as tantamount to political arson<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At the political level, most Israelis and Palestinians insist that Jerusalem must be the capital of their states, present and future, and that this is non-negotiable. This is why the final status of Jerusalem was deemed to be one of the thorniest issues in the Oslo peace process in the 1990s. It was envisaged to be circumnavigated<\/a>, dealt with only at the stage of \u201cpermanent status negotiations\u201d, once all other issues between the state of Israel and the Palestinians were resolved.<\/p>\n

As there has not been any progress in less important, yet substantive issues since Oslo, the issue of Jerusalem has acquired a symbolic importance among Palestinians.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Trump at the Western Wall on a visit in May 2017.
Ronen Zvulun\/EPA<\/p><\/div>\n

Jerusalem is a city dense in symbolism in the Palestinian national imagination. Particularly so as other, more material anchors of identity such as territory, governance and self-determination are continually being eroded by the harsh realities of Israeli occupation, the blockade of Gaza and deteriorating cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian authorities.<\/p>\n

The response to Trump\u2019s announcement by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and most of his government was muted<\/a>. But its symbolic value among nationalist circles in Israel, and also among many ordinary Israelis, should not be underestimated.<\/p>\n

The Israeli government has been active in strengthening Israeli claims to the entire city since its annexation<\/a> in 1980. Settlement building<\/a> around Jerusalem has aimed to ring-fence the city and integrate it more into Israel. Meanwhile, there were building restrictions<\/a> in East Jerusalem, and a series of restrictions to Palestinian access to the Al-Aqsa mosque<\/a>, built on the remnants of the last Jewish Temple. Both sets of restrictions were lifted<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Equally important in terms of symbolic politics has been Israel\u2019s archaeological intervention around Jerusalem, which Palestinians see<\/a> as an attempt to strengthen Israel\u2019s historical connection with the city.<\/p>\n

Wider significance<\/strong><\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s decision seems oblivious to the fragility of coexistence in the city between its Israeli and Palestinian inhabitants. It also ignores the significance of Jerusalem in Palestinian national identity and national aspirations, and the devastating impact on the future of a moribund peace process.<\/p>\n

It has the potential of not only affecting the political ecology of a place where history is a matter of life and death, but could also cause a ripple effect much further afield. It can destabilise a Palestinian authority already deprived of legitimacy and an array of fragile Arab regimes. And it is likely to accentuate the enmity between Israel and Iran. Iran perceives<\/a> such a move as a \u201cviolation of Islamic sanctities\u201d and, together with Trump\u2019s revitalised alliance with Saudi Arabia, a clear sign of the US president\u2019s anti-Iranian stance.<\/p>\n

Last but not least, it could further stoke the flames<\/a> of anti-Western Islamic movements in the Muslim world and the West alike, which have always put Jerusalem and the Palestinian issue in a central position.<\/p>\n

_________________________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Spyros Sofos <\/a>– Researcher, Centre for Middle Eastern Studies, Lund University <\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Vittorio Felci <\/a>– Researcher, Centre for Middle Eastern Studies, Lund University <\/em><\/p>\n

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Republish <\/em>The Conversation articles for free, online or in print, under Creative Commons license.<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 theconversation.com<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Join the<\/em><\/strong> BDS-BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT, SANCTIONS <\/em><\/strong>campaign<\/em><\/strong><\/span> to protest the Israeli barbaric siege of Gaza, illegal occupation of the Palestine nation\u2019s territory, the apartheid wall, its inhuman and degrading treatment of the Palestinian people, and the more than 7,000 Palestinian men, women, elderly and children arbitrarily locked up in Israeli prisons.<\/p>\n

DON’T BUY<\/strong> PRODUCTS WHOSE<\/strong> BARCODE<\/strong> STARTS WITH<\/strong> 729<\/strong>, which indicates that it is produced in Israel.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 DO YOUR PART! MAKE A DIFFERENCE!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

7 2 9: BOYCOTT FOR JUSTICE!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump\u2019s decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel has the potential to further inflame tensions across the Middle East and stoke the flames of anti-Western Islamic movements in the Muslim world and the West alike, which have always put Jerusalem and the Palestinian issue in a central position.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":103334,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-north-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}