(CNN)American evangelicals, especially those close to President Donald Trump, hailed his announcement on Wednesday that the United States now recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. But other religious leaders, including Pope Francis and Christians living in Israel, expressed dire concerns that the move would incite unrest in the volatile region. “I have determined that it is time to officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel,” Trump said in the White House’s Diplomatic Reception Room. “After more than two decades of waivers, we are no closer to a lasting peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.”
The reaction from the foreign-policy establishment and America’s European and Arab allies is unanimous. All are opposed to President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Moreover, the very real possibility of violence from the Palestinians, and perhaps even bloody riots throughout the Muslim world, in reaction to a statement scheduled to be delivered today has once again brought down a hail of criticism assailing the president’s judgment. But while this may complicate America’s position in the Middle East and further confuse an already muddled peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, the brickbats aimed at Trump are ignoring the most significant aspect of the controversy. The timing of Trump’s statement is curious given the fact that his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has been trying to revive peace negotiations with Saudi help.
Eight countries opposed to President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital have asked for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council this week. Sweden’s U.N. Mission says the eight nations have asked Japan, this month’s council president, to have Secretary-General Antonio Guterres brief the 15 council members. The eight council nations that requested the meeting are Bolivia, Egypt, France, Italy, Senegal, Sweden, United Kingdom and Uruguay. Guterres said after Trump’s announcement that the issue must be resolved through direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians and warned that “unilateral measures” can jeopardize prospects for peace. In a resolution adopted last December the council said it “will not recognize any changes to the June 4, 1967, lines, including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties through negotiations.”
In their public remarks, both French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Theresa May made a point of reaffirming the need for future final-status negotiations about Jerusalem, which suggests that they are worried about the impact of Trump’s move in that context. Macron, in a phone call to Trump before the announcement, “expressed his concern with the possibility that the United States might unilaterally recognize Jerusalem as capital of the state of Israel,” the French government said. “Mr. Macron reaffirmed that the status of Jerusalem must be resolved through peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, and particularly those relating to the establishment of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security with Jerusalem as their capital.” May said that she’s “intending to speak to President Trump about this matter. The status of Jerusalem should be determined in a negotiated settlement between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Jerusalem should ultimately form a shared capital between the Israeli and Palestinian states.”
Pope Francis has urged international leaders to proceed with prudence and respect for current U.N. resolutions. “My thought now goes to Jerusalem. In this regard, I cannot ignore my deep concern for the situation that has been created in recent days,” the Pope said Dec. 6. He issued a “heartfelt appeal” to the international community to ensure that “everyone is committed to respecting the status quo of the city, in accordance with the relevant Resolutions of the United Nations.” The position of the U.N. on the Jerusalem issue is that East Jerusalem is occupied Palestinian territory, and that the city should eventually become the capital of the two states of Israel and Palestine.
Christians in the Holy Land
Patriarch Theophilos III, the Greek Orthodox patriarchate, widely seen as the most senior Christian figure in Jerusalem, and a dozen other church leaders in the Holy Land, sent a letter to Trump on Wednesday warning of “irreparable harm”. His move “will yield increased hatred, conflict, violence and suffering in Jerusalem and the Holy Land, moving us farther from the goal of unity and deeper toward destructive division”, they said. Church leaders will be anxious to protect Christian sites.
A holy city
Medieval maps show Jerusalem at the center of the known world, with good reason: Historic Jerusalem encompasses places sacred to the three Abrahamic religions. The Jewish temple, destroyed by Rome in A.D. 70, was located on a plateau that is now home to the A.l-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, a centuries-old shrine that Muslims revere as the place where the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven. The Western Wall, located below the plateau, is part of the ancient temple complex and the most sacred site of Jewish prayer. Nearby, according to Christian belief, are the sites of Jesus’ Crucifixion, death and Resurrection.
Why is Jerusalem important to three major religions? Known in Hebrew as Yerushalayim and in Arabic as al-Quds, it is one of the oldest cities in the world. The religious importance of this city dates to the days of the Old Testament and 1050 B.C. when Israel’s King David conquered Jerusalem. His son, Solomon, expanded on the construction David began, raising the Temple on the Mount that would later be finished by Herod. A remnant of a massive, western retaining wall for the temple ruins is now the Wailing Wall or Western Wall of Jewish prayer and pilgrimage. Close by is the Muslim Dome of the Rock from where Mohammed ascended, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of Islam’s holiest sites. Christians travel to Jerusalem to follow the path Jesus walked before the crucifixion and visit the Christian Church of the Holy Sepulchre built by Crusaders in the 12th century over the site of Christ’s tomb.
A divided city
Palestinian Arabs make up nearly 40 percent of Jerusalem’s population and live almost exclusively in the east. They are legal residents but not citizens of Israel. Following Israel’s capture of East Jerusalem in 1967, the city’s borders were redrawn, tripling its size. Some 200,000 Jewish Israelis have moved to the eastern side of the city, and a small number of Jewish nationalists have established residence within traditionally Arab neighborhoods.
Lebanese leaders blast U.S. decision on Jerusalem
the daily star.com.lb – BEIRUT: Senior Lebanese figures Wednesday unanimously blasted the decision by U.S. President Donald Trump to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. President Michel Aoun said the stance taken by Trump “threatens U.S. credibility as a sponsor of the peace process,” a statement from the presidency said following the announcement. Aoun said he considers the move as taking the peace process back decades and warned of repercussions “that would threaten the region’s stability as well as that of the world.” The president called on Arab states to take a unified stance to return the Arab identity to Jerusalem and “prevent it from changing.” He added that the peace initiative is the “only way to restore rights to its owners.” Speaker Nabih Berri warned that the world was on the cusp of “a new Balfour Declaration,” referring to a document by then-British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour in 1917 that paved the way toward establishing the national home of the Jewish people in Palestine. “We are facing a new Balfour Declaration, which is paving the way for a deal at the expense of the Palestinian cause and the rights of Palestinians,” Berri said, according to a statement from his media office.
Prime Minister Saad Hariri criticized Trump’s move. “Lebanon condemns and rejects this resolution and declares its solidarity with the Palestinian people and the right to establish an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital,” Hariri tweeted. Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk called on people to sign a petition against the move. “World leaders: Jerusalem must remain the capital of Palestine – Sign the Petition!” he tweeted. Minister of State for Administrative Development Inaya Ezzeddine tweeted a photo of Jerusalem’s iconic Dome of the Rock, with a Fairouz lyric that read, “We look at you in contemplation every day.” MP Sleiman Frangieh also used Twitter to express his frustration, writing: “Moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem is an obstacle to all Arabs, and a blow to every international and Arab agreement.”
Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdel-Latif Derian called on all leaders of Arab and Islamic countries to counter the move and preserve Arab identity in Palestine, the state-run National News Agency reported. “The transfer of the American Embassy to Jerusalem and the recognition of the holy city as the capital of Israel is a blatant challenge and provocation to the feelings of Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims,” the grand mufti said.” However, MP Walid Jumblatt criticized the Arab reaction to the move. “The biggest joke is the official rejection of the transfer of the American Embassy to Jerusalem. Why do we care about the buildings and not the people?” Jumblatt tweeted. “What did the Arabs do, in practice, to help the people of Jerusalem?”
