David French: Donald Trump Strikes a Blow against International Anti-Semitism
By moving America’s embassy to Jerusalem, the U.S. confronts the bigoted double standards of the international community.Danny Ayalon: The Truth About Jerusalem
President Trump’s decision to formally recognize that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and to announce plans to move America’s embassy to the seat of Israel’s government is one of the best, most moral, and important decisions of his young administration. On this issue, he is demonstrating greater resolve than Republican and Democratic presidents before him, and he is defying some of the worst people in the world.
Think I’m overstating this? Think I’m too enthusiastic about an isolated diplomatic maneuver — especially when that maneuver, to quote the New York Times, “isolates the U.S.” and “has drawn a storm of criticism from Arab and European leaders”? Let’s consider some law, history, and context.
First, sovereign nations are entitled to name their capital, and it is the near-universal practice of other nations to locate their embassies in that same capital. I say “near-universal” because the nations of the world have steadfastly refused to recognize Israel’s capital. They’ve steadfastly placed their embassies outside of Jerusalem. They do so in spite of the Jewish people’s ancient connection to the City of David and in spite of the fact that no conceivable peace settlement would turn over the seat of Israel’s government to Palestinian control — even if parts of East Jerusalem are reserved for a Palestinian capital. Israel’s government sits on Israeli land, and it will remain Israeli land.
Yet the international community condemns America for recognizing reality, for treating Israel the way the world treats every other nation. Why?
From the birth of the modern nation-state of Israel, an unholy mixture of anti-Semites and eliminationists have both sought to drive the Jewish people into the sea and — when military measures failed — isolate the Jewish nation diplomatically, militarily, and culturally. Working through the U.N. and enabled by Soviet-bloc (and later) European allies, these anti-Semites and eliminationists have waged unrelenting “lawfare” against Israel. (Lawfare is the abuse of international law and legal processes to accomplish military objectives that can’t be achieved on the battlefield.)
Melanie Phillips: A historic watershed shames Britain and Europe
It’s a seismic event, a great decision and a historic watershed. This is where blackmail and intimidation are faced down. This is where appeasement ends.Bennett: Jerusalem was our capital before London even existed
President Trump’s speech recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital has signaled that, for America, the century- long Arab attempt to destroy Israel’s legitimacy – the essence of the Middle East conflict – has failed.
Trump was careful and subtle. He did not say all of Jerusalem was Israel’s capital. The US will support a two-state solution if Israel and the Arabs agree to it.
The boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem or the borders of Israel itself will be left to the parties to resolve. And he merely started the process of moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem.
It was the balanced, strategic and principled speech of a statesman.
This is not to downplay the risks involved. The incendiary threats of vengeful violence should be taken seriously. But the Arabs need no excuse to try to murder Israelis.
The purse-lipped refusal by Western countries to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital didn’t prevent the Palestinians from hurling rocks from the Aksa Mosque at Jews worshiping below and stabbing them in the street, all in the name of the Jerusalem status quo.
Caroline Glick: Trump’s great and ingenious gifts
With his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump gave a Hanukka gift to the Jewish people. But he also gave a Christmas gift to the American people.
Trump’s gift to Israel is not merely that 68 years after Israel declared Jerusalem its capital, the US finally recognized Israel’s capital.
In his declaration, Trump said, “Israel has made its capital in the city of Jerusalem, the capital the Jewish people established in ancient times.”
By stating this simple truth, Trump fully rejected the anti-Israel legacy of his predecessor Barack Obama.
In his speech in Cairo in 2009, Obama intimated that Israel’s legitimacy is rooted in the Holocaust, rather than in the Jewish nation’s millennial attachment to the Land of Israel. Whereas the Balfour Declaration and the League of Nations Mandate rooted the Jewish people’s sovereign rights to the Land of Israel in its 3,500-year relationship with it, Obama said that Israel is nothing more than a refugee camp located in an inconvenient area. In so doing, he gave credence to the anti-Israel slander that Israel is a colonialist power.
By asserting the real basis for Israel’s legitimacy, Trump made clear that the Jewish people is indigenous to the Land of Israel. He also made it US policy to view Israel’s right to exist, like its right to its capital city, as unconditional.
Trump’s extraordinary gift to Israel was an act of political and moral courage. It was also a stroke of strategic brilliance.
Noah Rothman: The Definition of Leadership
Foreign-policy observers who are supposedly overcome with anxiety over the loss of America’s leadership in the world are aware of what a real abdication of leadership looks like. They watched as America spent the last eight years retreating from the world stage.Commendable defiance
Obama and his administration are adamant that no one in the White House actually said the words “leading from behind” to describe the U.S. role in the 2011 Libyan intervention (the reporter who published that quote disagrees), but the rhetoric is beside the point. The Obama administration outsourced that intervention to Europe and, as a result, had no contingency in place in the event that the regime in Tripoli collapsed.
It was the Obama administration that withdrew impetuously from Iraq only to sheepishly and belatedly return when the mass murder and ethnic cleansing was days away from becoming a genocide. It was the Obama administration who subcontracted superpower status to Russia to avoid intervention in Syria, only to intervene anyway when the situation became untenable. And yet, despite the existing American military presence in and over Syria, there was no effort to stave off a preventable humanitarian crisis in places like Homs and Aleppo. It was Donald Trump who finally made good on Barack Obama’s “red line” for action if the Syrian regime deployed chemical munitions against civilians—an atrocity that has not been repeated since.
“American leadership” is too often defined by its self-appointed custodians as a synonym for taking the path of least resistance prescribed by European bureaucrats. Those who believe that crediting the president for his achievements provides him with cover to trespass civic norms or sow discord have it precisely backward. Objectivity sharpens those criticisms and exposes them to a wider audience. On the world stage, Donald Trump is not abdicating America’s role in the world, and his critics should acknowledge that. At least for now, the president’s approach to foreign affairs isn’t only familiar; it’s effective.
The Palestinians have no one to blame except themselves for President Donald Trump’s declaration on Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem. The same goes for European leaders, who were busy this week condemning Trump’s move.StandWithUs: Be Warned: This Blood Is On Your Hands.
The Palestinians and the Europeans brought this on themselves by running an ugly campaign of denialism and denigration against Israel. Their brazen persistence in delegitimizing the Jewish people's historic roots and rights in Jerusalem led to this defiant and ultimately honorable result: a reassertion of reality.
Over the past decade, and certainly since he rejected then-U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's 2014 peace initiative, President Mahmoud Abbas' Palestinian Authority has been on an outrageous path, an assault on the core identity of Jews and Israelis and an offensive to deny the most fundamental, basic building blocks of Jewish connection to Jerusalem and the Land of Israel.
At Abbas' express urging, UNESCO has adopted insane and nonsensical resolutions declaring Jerusalem an exclusively Muslim heritage city and criminalizing Israel's custodianship of the holy city. Most of Israel’s European allies went along with this affront, either voting for or abstaining on the resolutions.
So what do you do when the Big Lie is evident everywhere, and no one seems to care about the truth? What do you do when Abbas repugnantly engages in gross inversions of reality and says that Israel is "paving the way for bitter religious conflict" that he doesn't want – when, in fact, it is he who is driving the conflict, not Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Israel?
Moreover, many were those who warned of “impending violence” if the U.S dares to recognize Jerusalem as the capital city of Israel. The Arab League and the Palestinians themselves advised the United States against the move, arguing it would “spark a new wave of violence” in the region and chose to follow up on their threats and called for “3 days of rage” in Gaza and the West Bank, as Hamas and Hezbollah go as far as calling for a new “Intifada”, bloodshed for those who are not familiar with the true meaning of this call.Nir Barkat (Mayor of Jerusalem): Israel’s eternal capital gets long overdue recognition
Indeed, a resolution was made that the Palestinians do not like. But is violence the answer? Are Palestinians to be considered nothing but barrels of gun powder, ready to explode at any moment, if something happens they do not like? And are we all destined to be hostages of Palestinian mood-swings? Isn’t Palestinian goal an independent state? And if so, shouldn’t we ask that sovereignty come with responsibility and accountability? That statehood comes with the ability to govern? For if Palestinians lack that simple characteristic of a state, what is the purpose of negotiations? Did Israel start a round of violence and called for “days of rage” when it was betrayed on world stage with resolution 2334? Yes, Israel was and still is upset with that one-sided unilateral and unhelpful move, but being a state of law and order that it is, it was able to cope with it diplomatically and manage its foreign policy accordingly.
And here is the most important point: by sounding the alarm and “warning” of this impending wave of violence, without outrightly denouncing it - making it clear that it is UNACCEPTABLE - the world is making a conscious and (im)moral choice to de-facto LEGITIMIZE it, by giving it pre-approval. That is to say, if anything happens, “it’s your fault, since we told you so”.
Lets make it abundantly clear, here and now: the only people to blame for violence are those who perpetrate it! Palestinians should be forewarned - not encouraged - that any act of terror on their side, shall be met with not only verbal condemnations but also concrete steps to punish the guilty parties. Happy or not, terror is not the answer and cannot be perceived as such, nor can we sit idly by while threats of violence are thrown into the air, unanswered.
December 6, 2017 is a day that will be remembered in history for decades and centuries to come as the date that the President of the free world stood on the side of the truth – recognizing Jerusalem as the eternal and indivisible capital of the State of Israel.Shmuley Boteach: Thank You, President Trump, for Your Courage on Jerusalem
For 3,000 years, the center of Jewish life, prayer and history has been the city of Jerusalem. President Trump’s historic statement shows the world clearly and unambiguously that the United States stands with the Jewish people and the State of Israel – and that he stands on the side of truth.
Since reuniting Jerusalem 50 years ago, Israel celebrated the rich diversity of the city. And three of the world's major religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – have thrived in Jerusalem during this time. Today, in one square kilometer, more functioning churches, mosques and synagogues exist in the Old City of Jerusalem than anywhere else in the world. And Jerusalemites have respected freedom of religion, freedom of movement, and freedom of expression for all the city's residents.
These values are the core of Israel's democracy – and are what distinguish us from our enemies around the world. These are not just Israeli values - they are values that we share with our strongest ally, the United States. More than anything, our joint commitment to these principles is the basis of our enduring bond and friendship.
President Trump’s bold decision brings us one step closer to peace. It provides certainty both to the people of Israel and to the rest of the world that Jerusalem's status as the capital of Israel is not up for debate. For too long, some seeking to derail the peace process have promulgated the fantasy that the State of Israel has no claim to Jerusalem. The certainty provided by the United States’ official recognition of Jerusalem as the eternal and indivisible capital of Israel will enhance, not weaken, the peace process.
During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump pledged that he would recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the U.S. embassy there from Tel Aviv. He has now made a courageous announcement making good on his campaign promise.Missing Mr. Moynihan
Recognition of reality is long overdue.
The usual suspects — Palestinians and their supporters, certain Arab governments, and some in the State Department — are howling as they do each time the issue is raised. The Palestinians say they will not negotiate, the Arabs say the Muslim world will revolt against us, and the State Department says U.S. interests will be threatened and the peace process will end. The president has ignored these doomsayers.
First, we all want peace. Our Palestinian brothers have refused to negotiate with Israel for eight years. They would not talk after President Barack Obama coerced Prime Minister Netanyahu to freeze settlement construction for 10 months. They have made excuses ever since. During the summer, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas reached a reconciliation agreement with Hamas, joining hands with the organization whose raison d’être is the annihilation of Israel.
Is it possible that some of our Muslim brothers will be angry with the United States if it recognizes the obvious fact that Jerusalem is, and has been since 1948, Israel’s capital? Radical Muslims don’t need any new reasons to attack us. They already view Americans as decadent infidels who deserve death. We cannot allow our foreign policy to be held hostage by people who despise our democratic and religious values. If we based all our policies on whether they might upset Muslim extremists, we would be totally paralyzed.
To those who say moving the embassy will kill the peace process, I have a simple question: What peace process would that be?
As we begin what might be called the Jerusalem Era in American foreign policy, we find ourselves missing Daniel Patrick Moynihan. It was the magnificent senator of New York who began agitating for our recognition of Jerusalem and against the State Department’s intransigence on this head. How nice it would have been had he survived to savor this moment, when an American president laid out the logic that Moynihan himself began to sketch.Donald Trump is right: Jerusalem is the capital of Israel
We first experienced the Moynihan treatment in the early 1990s, when the senator came to see us at the newspaper we were then editing, the Jewish Forward. He pulled out of his pocket a State Department telephone directory, which had Jerusalem listed as, in effect, its own country.* The senator, formerly America’s envoy at the United Nations and ambassador at India, ranted at our foreign service. He was eager to move forward with some kind of legislative action.
At the same time, Moynihan quoted a warning that he attributed to Israel’s sixth prime minister, Menachem Begin. It was that the Jerusalem question can’t be solved in the United States Congress. His point was that only Israel herself can decide where her capital is. Of course, Israel had long since done that, and his view was that it was up to us to acknowledge, to recognize it. Had he lived, the Democrats might have had a leading role in winning recognition.
Unfortunately, Moynihan was succeeded in the Senate by Hillary Clinton. She voted with Israel on proxy issues, like the requirement that the State Department honor any request for an American born in Jerusalem to be issued a passport listing the birthplace as Israel. Her heart wasn’t in it, though. Once she was state secretary, she went to court against the very Jerusalem measure passed unanimously by the senate of which she was at the time a member.
The histrionics are unnecessary but to be expected where Israel is involved. The international community is obsessively ignorant about the Jewish state, checking in occasionally to lecture an embattled liberal outpost on the proper etiquette for preventing its children from being blown up. This engenders a reflexive idiocy that treats absurd banalities as wise statecraft. Those who insisted for years that the peace process was dead now say that Trump has killed it. Those who asserted that US foreign policy was controlled by the Israel lobby now lament the surrender of America’s neutrality. Those who championed recognition of Palestine without negotiations are suddenly sceptical about unilateralism. Senator Dianne Feinstein wrote to Donald Trump to warn that implementing the Jerusalem Embassy Act would ‘spark violence and embolden extremists’. Dianne Feinstein voted for the Jerusalem Embassy Act.At State Department Briefing, Taboo Words on Jerusalem Are Finally Said Aloud
The Palestinians have threatened to respond with rage and unrest. Or ‘Thursday’ as it’s otherwise known. So little is expected of them that the threat of violence is seen as a reasonable response to Trump’s proclamation. Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, now in the second decade of his four-year term in office, accused the United States of walking away from the peace process and undermining the security of the region. Donald Trump has appropriated Palestinian culture.
There is a polite, cuddly racism to the way their international admirers treat the Palestinians. They deserve a homeland but they cannot have someone else’s, and Jerusalem is someone else’s capital. Yes, it is a sacred place for the three Abrahamic faiths — something Israel protects fiercely — but it belongs to only one of them. Jerusalem has been sacked, burned, occupied and but has never been the capital of any other sovereign nation other than Israel. It’s not just the the capital of Israel but the spiritual heart of Judaism.
Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. That cannot be wished away, shouted down or flooded in myth and revisionist history. Donald Trump, a man with a strained relationship to reality, is being damned for finally telling the truth.
For the first time since Israel’s creation in 1948, a senior US State Department official has uttered the six words concerning the city of Jerusalem that were previously considered taboo.Yisrael Medad: The State Department's Jerusalem - Then and Now
“Jerusalem is the capital of Israel,” declared Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Satterfield at an official briefing in Washington, DC on Thursday — one day after President Donald Trump upended decades of American policy by recognizing the holy city as the capital of the Jewish state.
Satterfield was answering a reporter who asked him two questions: “What is the capital of Israel?” and “What country is Jerusalem in?” On both, Satterfield confirmed that the US now recognizes “Jerusalem as the capital of the state of Israel.”
Satterfield’s boss — Secretary of State Rex Tillerson — also held to the same line during a press conference in the Austrian capital of Vienna, underlining that the State Department, traditionally regarded as hostile to Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem, will not be challenging Trump.
“As you know, there’s a 1995 law in the United States that requires the United States to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to relocate our embassy,” Tillerson said. “So the president, after many, many reaffirmations by our Senate, including as recently as this past summer — the vote, I think, was 90 to none with 10 abstentions — the president is simply carrying out the will of the American people.”
Remember this from June 8, 2015?How trump's Jerusalem decision was a defeat for terror
MR RATHKE: Not in the habit of doing victory dances. Go ahead, Matt.
QUESTION: Well, just – can you remind us all what city – or what the United States regards as the capital of Israel?
MR RATHKE: Well, since I think – to come to the – maybe the nub of the issue, since Israel’s founding, administrations of both parties have maintained a consistent policy of recognizing no state as having sovereignty over Jerusalem. So we remain committed to this longstanding policy, and this decision today helps ensure that our position on the neutrality of Jerusalem remains – it remains clear.
QUESTION: That applies to both West Jerusalem and East Jerusalem?
MR RATHKE: Again, no change to our policy to announce.
QUESTION: Well, but I mean the contested part of Jerusalem is just the east part. Not even the Palestinians claim the west part.
MR RATHKE: Again, Matt, I’ve got no change to our policy to announce.
Recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital gives Israelis a feeling that Trump has their back. If the prime minister now announces concessions to the Palestinians and tough compromises, they will be more easily offset by moves like the one regarding Jerusalem.At White House Hanukkah party, Trump celebrates his Jerusalem decision
This will also leave its mark on Israeli politics. Without the Jerusalem decision, it might have been difficult for Netanyahu to maintain his coalition after Kushner presents his peace plan in a few months. But now, it will be difficult for Bayit Yehudi or any other coalition member to oppose a deal that is being mediated by the same administration that did what no one else was willing to do for 70 years. Even if Naftali Bennett, for example, would want to leave the coalition at some point down the road due to peace talks, his constituents won’t easily let him.
According to officials familiar with the work being done on the White House’s peace plan, it is extremely detailed and far more comprehensive than just a few pages of parameters as some in Israel initially expected. Greenblatt’s team, for example, has studied all of the core issues and broken them down into sets of recommendations, like drafting a detailed plan on how to resolved the issue of Jerusalem.
When and how will the plan be rolled out? That is something the administration is still debating. The plan will likely be ready in the next few weeks, but it has yet to decide how to unveil it. Will it convene a summit headed by Trump and joined by Netanyahu and PA President Mahmoud Abbas? Or will the US president simply send Kushner, Friedman and Greenblatt to present the plan to Jerusalem and Ramallah?
For now, the administration will give the Palestinians time to blow off steam. But I wouldn’t expect things to stay quiet for too long. This administration has shown it is determined to make progress. As Trump said on Wednesday: “Let us rethink old assumptions and open our hearts and minds to [the] possible and possibilities.”
US President Donald Trump strode onto the stage at the White House Hanukkah Reception with a particular air of confidence on Thursday night. “Well, I know for a fact there are a lot of happy people in this room,” he told the gathered crowd.Israel launches diplomatic 'blitz' for world recognition of Jerusalem
He then paused for effect — and applause — before saying what was on everyone’s mind: “Jerusalem.”
This year’s annual soiree came one day after Trump delivered on a campaign promise made by several former presidents, but never before implemented, formally recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and directing the State Department to formulate a plan for moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
And yet, he didn’t harp on that as much as one might expect. Perhaps because he knew he didn’t need to, or perhaps because he didn’t want to risk saying anything that could further inflame the situation, as a wave of protests swept the Middle East in the wake of his proclamation, and the Palestinians declared it the end of the peace process — something he has made a top priority of his presidency.
Seeking to capitalize on U.S. President Donald Trump's historic recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed Israeli diplomats to make every effort to convince other nations to follow in Washington's footsteps.Israel to build 14,000 new housing units in Jerusalem
Speaking at a Foreign Ministry event Thursday, Netanyahu said that he expects "many countries" to follow the United States' lead on the matter, adding that overtures are already underway.
He did not specify the names of the countries, but said some might relocate their embassies from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem before the U.S. does, as the Trump administration expects the move to take several years.
A Foreign Ministry official said the diplomatic overtures were "highly sensitive" and the countries involved could not be named, but said they were being made by states in different continents around the world.
Another Foreign Ministry official said that Israel expects its "friendlier allies" to follow the U.S., even if only on a declarative level at first.
Construction and Housing Minister Yoav Galant (Kulanu) is promoting a plan to build 14,000 housing units in Jerusalem, Hahadashot (formerly Channel 2 News) reported on Thursday.Tillerson: On Jerusalem, Trump Is Obeying the Will of the American People
The move follows President Donald Trump's announcement on Wednesday that the United States recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
According to the report, the government would promote the construction of 5,000 housing units in Atarot, in addition to a new neighborhood in the area which is being promoted by the Jerusalem municipality.
Another 1,000 housing units are expected in Pisgat Ze'ev and are waiting for approval, 3,000 units will be built in Katamon and 5,000 units will be built in Reches Lavan.
"Following President Trump's historic declaration, I intend to promote and strengthen the construction in Jerusalem," said Minister Galant.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Thursday: "There's a 1995 law in the United States that requires the United States to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to relocate our embassy....After many, many reaffirmations by our Senate, including as recently as this past summer - the vote, I think, was 90 to none with 10 abstentions - the President is simply carrying out the will of the American people....It is just an acknowledgment of what is the reality on the ground....So the reality is, as you wake up today after this announcement, there's nothing that's different other than the President has now implemented the 1995 law."Netanyahu likens Trump’s Jerusalem speech to Israel’s founding
"Having said that, he also reaffirmed our strong belief that the status quo of the holy sites must be maintained, which recognizes the rightful role of the various countries around those sites. He also affirmed our support for a two-state solution if that's what the parties believe they are ready to agree. And he also made a statement regarding the final status of Jerusalem is something that is left for the parties to negotiate....Every country has a right to decide what it wants to decide as to its embassy in Israel."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday called US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital one of the key milestones in the Jewish state’s history, comparing it to several monumental past events.UN Security Council to Convene Meeting Over Jerusalem Recognition
“There are major moments in the history of Zionism: the Balfour Declaration, the founding of the state, the liberation of Jerusalem and Trump’s announcement yesterday,” Netanyahu said in a video posted to social media.
“I told him: ‘My friend the president, you are going to make history.’ Yesterday, he made history,” Netanyahu added.
The prime minister said Trump’s decision was embraced by Israelis of all stripes, paraphrasing a famous biblical verse to invoke the Jewish people’s long-held emotional attachment to the city.
“This is a festive and unifying moment, for the right, the left, religious, secular,” he said. “We are making Jerusalem our chief joy.”
The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to convene on Friday regarding President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital.Dore Gold: It Is an American Right to Decide Where Its Embassy Will Be Located
Eight countries that sit on the 15-member UN body — France, Bolivia, Egypt, Italy, Senegal, Sweden, the UK and Uruguay — requested that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres brief the council on the US policy change.
“The UN has given Jerusalem a special legal and political status, which the Security Council has called upon the international community to respect. That is why we believe the Council needs to address this issue with urgency,” Deputy Swedish UN Ambassador Carl Skau said Wednesday.
Following Trump’s Jerusalem announcement, Guterres told reporters, “I have consistently spoken out against any unilateral measures that would jeopardize the prospect of peace for Israelis and Palestinians.”
A UN Security Council resolution adopted in December 2016 stated that the world body “will not recognize any changes to the 4 June 1967 lines, including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties through negotiations.” Israel took control of a reunified Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War.
US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley lauded the US policy change as “the just and right thing to do.”
Amb. Dore Gold told StandWithUs in San Diego this week: "I don't believe that the violence that is being threatened by various groups and organizations happens spontaneously. Violence occurs because someone is planning the violence....If the Palestinian side seeks violence against Israel, or violence against the United States, we should observe that and we should do everything in our power to neutralize it."
"We have to be very firm that we reject the use of violence for what is an American right, to decide where its embassy will be located, and to decide that it will be located in the capital of Israel."
State Dept still won’t allow US citizens born in Jerusalem to record Israel as place of birth
Americans born in Jerusalem will still not be able to list "Israel" as their birthplace on passports despite President Trump's move to recognize the city as the Israeli capital.Attorneys in Jerusalem Passport Case Ask Trump to Apply New US Policy
“At this time, there are no changes to our current practices regarding place of birth on Consular Reports of Birth Abroad and U.S. Passports,” the State Department told The Associated Press on Thursday.
The department policy currently states that American citizens born in Jerusalem can only list the city on their passport as opposed to listing Israel as well, according to the AP.
American citizens born in Jerusalem prior to 1948 are able to list Palestine as the place of their birth.
Israel was officially established as a Jewish state in 1948.
The president on Wednesday announced that the U.S. would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, along with plans to relocate the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to the holy city.
The move has sparked backlash from Arabs and Palestinians, who have long hoped to claim Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.
The attorneys in the landmark Jerusalem passport lawsuit are calling on President Donald Trump to instruct the State Department to list “Israel” as the birthplace of American citizens born in Jerusalem.State, Defense and CIA chiefs all opposed Jerusalem declaration, CNN says
Attorneys Nathan Lewin and Alyza D. Lewin represented Menachem Zivotofsky, whose parents first sued the State Department in 2003, after it wrote “Jerusalem” rather than “Israel” on his passport as his place of birth. In June 2015, the Supreme Court ruled, 6-3, that the president has the exclusive power to decide which country to recognize as sovereign in a given territory.
In the wake of President Trump’s December 6 recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the Lewins hope that previous US policy will be reversed.
In an exclusive statement to JNS.org, the Lewins said that, “We will be requesting promptly that, in light of the president’s statement today, Menachem Zivotofsky be issued a United States passport designating his place of birth as ‘Israel.” The statement continued: “The president’s formal recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel should also entitle every United States citizen born in Jerusalem to have his or her United States passport automatically show ‘Israel’ as his or her place of birth.”
Although Trump announced US recognition of Jerusalem, he did not immediately take any steps to implement his decision. The passport question thus could emerge as the key test of how the president’s declaration will be implemented.
Top officials in the Trump administration opposed the president’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital Wednesday and advised Donald Trump not to upset the status quo in the region, CNN has reported.EU Vows Push to Make Jerusalem Capital for Palestinians Too
Senior administration sources told the network that US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary James Mattis and CIA Director Mike Pompeo all protested the decision in private.
Meanwhile Trump’s peace envoys — Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt and his son-in-law and senior policy adviser Jared Kushner — supported the move but advised him to delay relocating the US embassy to Jerusalem, according to the CNN report. But the White House vigorously disputed this account.
“That’s nonsense and simply not true,” an administration official told The Times of Israel.
Trump said he had instructed officials to begin preparing the move, but also signed a waiver delaying any relocation by at least six more months. The embassy would likely take years to move.
The EU’s top diplomat pledged on Thursday to reinvigorate diplomacy with Russia, the United States, Jordan and others to ensure Palestinians have a capital in Jerusalem after U.S. President Donald Trump recognized the city as Israel’s capital.‘Move Indian Embassy to Jerusalem’: Senior Party Leader Urges Prime Minister Modi
The European Union, a member of the Middle East Quartet along with the United States, the United Nations and Russia, believes it has a duty to make its voice heard as the Palestinians’ biggest aid donor and Israel’s top trade partner.
“The European Union has a clear and united position. We believe the only realistic solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine is based on two states and with Jerusalem as the capital of both,” EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told a news conference.
She said she would meet Jordan’s foreign minister on Friday, while she and EU foreign ministers would discuss Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Brussels on Monday.
While Arab and Muslim leaders were calling for blood on the streets with ‘new Intifada’ and ‘days of rage’, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other EU leaders were lining up to join the chorus to condemn President Donald Trump for daring to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, leading Indian politicians such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s nationalist BJP party called the government follow US President’s example and move the country’s embassy to Jerusalem.Tom Gross: “Not the end of peace talks, but the beginning” (audio interview)
“Israel has international recognition of a part of Jerusalem as its territory, hence India should shift its embassy to this part of the city,” senior Indian politician Dr. Subramanian Swamy wrote on Twitter. Former Commerce Minister and one-time Harvard professor, Dr. Swamy, is regarded as one of the chief architects of India’s economic liberalization that began three decades ago. The sentiment was echoed by another senior BJP leader and eminent journalist Tarun Vijay, who expressed his hopes that the Indian embassy will soon move to the “right place” in Jerusalem.
Indian TV network Republic reported Dr. Swamy’s statement:
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy on Wednesday called for shifting of India’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv.
Taking to Twitter, the BJP MP said, “Israel has international recognition of a part of Jerusalem as its territory, hence India should shift its embassy to this part of the city.”
“Contrary to expectations, ‘hardliners’ Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu may well yet oversee the creation of a Palestinian state -- with parts of Jerusalem as its capital – even if the Palestinians don’t get everything they want.” -- TV journalist Jonathan Sacerdoti interviews Tom Gross following Donald Trump’s dramatic recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. (Dec. 6, 2017)
15 Hysterical Reactions to Trump’s Jerusalem Announcement
It’s safe to say that people around the world are very excited by President Donald Trump’s decision to formally recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and begin the process of moving the American embassy there.Time to put Germany’s foreign minister in his place
Here are some of the most excitable folks and their reactions to the announcement:
Ismail Haniyah, head of the Hamas government in Gaza: “Our position remains as it is, Palestine from the sea to the Jordan river. We will not agree to two states and not to the division of Jerusalem. I hereby call for terrorism and armed struggle … We want the uprising to last and continue to let Trump and the occupation regret this decision.”
Saab Erekat, Palestinian negotiator: “President Trump has delivered a message to the Palestinian people: The two-state solution is over. Now is the time to transform the struggle to one of one state with equal rights for everyone living in historic Palestine, from the river to the sea.” (Note: there is not much room for Israel in a map where “Palestine” stretches “from the river to the sea.” The phrase is generally interpreted as a call for genocide against the Jews.)
Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority: “These measures are a reward to Israel’s violations of international resolutions and an encouragement for Israel to continue its policy of occupation, settlements, apartheid and ethnic cleansing.”
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran: “Their announcement of Quds as the capital of Occupied Palestine proves their incompetence and failure. In regards to Palestine, they are helpless and unable to achieve their goals. Victory is for the Islamic nation. Palestine will be free, and the Palestinian people will be victorious. The modern-day pharaoh is represented by the U.S., the Zionist regime and their accomplices in the region, who seek to create wars in our region, and this is plotted by the U.S. … The Islamic world will undoubtedly stand against this plot and the Zionists will receive a big blow from this action and dear Palestine will be liberated.” (Note: “Quds” means Jerusalem; “Occupied Palestine” means Israel.)
Hassan Rouhani, President of Iran and certified “moderate” according to the Obama administration: “We call on Muslim peoples to enter into a big uprising against the plot of transferring the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem. The declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of the Zionist entity is a new conspiracy facing the Islamic world these days. We have to be aware and ready in the face of the U.S., the Zionist entity, and their tails.”
Al-Akhbar, a pro-Hezbollah newspaper in Lebanon: “Death to America! Today in Palestine there is a capable, empowered resistance that owns thousands of rockets that can strike Tel Aviv.”
Desmond Tutu, Nobel laureate: “God is weeping over President Donald Trump’s inflammatory and discriminatory recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.”
Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Hezbollah: “We support the call for a new Palestinian intifada and escalating the resistance which is the biggest, most important and gravest response to the American decision.”
Hanan Ashwari, Palestine Liberation Organization executive committee member: “In one blow, President Trump has destroyed not only the chances of peace but the stability and security of the region as a whole. He has undermined his closest allies in the Arab world. He has also taken a position that is absolutely illegal and in violation of international law. He has disqualified the U.S., sadly, from playing any role in peacemaking.”
Although he was appointed to his current post barely 10 months ago, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel has wasted little time doing his utmost to bully Israel and cause damage to its international standing.IsraellyCool: WATCH: Trump’s Jerusalem Decision “Long, Long, Long Overdue”
Displaying a remarkable degree of unrestrained arrogance, Deutschland’s top diplomat has once again stuck his nose into matters where it has no place being, and it is time for the Jewish state to rebuke him in no uncertain terms.
Amid reports earlier this week that US President Donald Trump was planning to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, Gabriel went public and blasted the decision, adding his voice to the likes of those such as Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iran’s thug-in-chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Why the foreign minister of Germany feels entitled to comment on where the United States decides to locate its diplomatic representation in a foreign country, or where the Jewish state chooses to seat its capital, was naturally left unsaid.
But what Gabriel did not hesitate to declare was that “it is in everyone’s interest that this does not happen.”
Warning to those who have an aversion to the truth: You will not want to watch Australian political commentator Rowan Dean in this clip.
You tell ’em, Rowan!
Swedish state TV: 'Jewish lobby' behind Jerusalem recognition
Sweden’s main public broadcaster apologized for an article that tied President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital to the strength of the “Jewish Lobby.”PMW: Palestinians react to US recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel
In a broadcast Wednesday immediately following Trump’s address about Jerusalem, the broadcaster SVT asserted that the “Jewish Lobby in the US is incredibly strong,” and said the lobby “has championed this issue for a long time.”
“It was an unfortunate choice of words that immediately was corrected by our senior news commentator,” Charlotta Friborg, executive editor and publisher SVT News, told JTA in an email.
Viewers had complained online that the assertion promoted anti-Semitic stereotypes about Jewish control over U.S foreign policy.
Separately, leaders of Dutch Jewry complained about their state broadcaster’s editorial choices in covering an assault on a kosher restaurant.
The NOS broadcaster placed a picture of Jerusalem on its website accompanying its report about the attack, in which a 29-year-old man waving a PLO flag smashed multiple windows of the HaCarmel restaurant in southern Amsterdam on Thursday.
NOS accompanied the article with a photo of the Israeli and American flags projected on the wall of the Old City of Jerusalem but removed the picture following complaints.
Different Palestinian responses have been noted throughout the day following US President Donald Trump's recognition yesterday of Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel and his promise to move the US embassy there. The following are some of these reactions:Abbas must decide how far to let the demonstrations go
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas "denounced and rejected" the American decision, stating that it is "a deliberate undermining of all efforts to achieve peace," and "a declaration of the withdrawal of the United States from playing the role which it has played over the past decades as a peace broker." [WAFA, official PA news agency, Dec. 6, 2017]
In what the official PA news agency called an "unofficial translation" of Abbas' speech, Abbas repeated the Palestinian mantra that Jerusalem is an "Arab Christian and Muslim city," completely denying Jewish history in it:
"This is the holy land of Prophet Muhammad, the cradle of Jesus Christ and the burial site of Moses. We say that Jerusalem is the city of peace, the city of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the first of the two Qibla, the second mosque and the third of the two Holy Mosques, and the city of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
Jerusalem, the capital of the State of Palestine, is bigger and more ancient for its Arabic identity to be altered with a measure or a decision. The identity of Jerusalem and its history will not be forged.
US President Trump's decision tonight will not change the reality of the city of Jerusalem, nor will it give any legitimacy to Israel in this regard, because it is an Arab Christian and Muslim city, the eternal capital of the state of Palestine." [WAFA, official PA news agency, Dec. 6, 2017]
The PA's national unity government "emphasized its opposition and condemnation of the American steps," and PA Government Spokesman Yusuf Al-Mahmoud likewise repeated that Jerusalem is the "occupied capital of the State of Palestine," while he compared Trump's decision to events in "the darkest periods of history":
"The international institutions are talking about an occupied city [Jerusalem], which is the capital city of the State of Palestine, and they are not talking about it being permitted to give it to others through President Trump's speech. He added that such a thing has only happened in the darkest periods of the history of the states and of human history."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 7, 2017]
If there are no big surprises in the region – and there don’t appear to be any on the horizon — there are likely to be several stormy days over the weekend, and not because of the weather.Abbas says Trump’s Jerusalem decision ends historic US role as peace broker
In fact, an improvement in the weather is likely to make the protests in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza — which began Thursday with a Fatah-organized general strike in Palestinian cities, and are likely to intensify on Friday — even more tempestuous.
Thursday’s strike at schools, stores and businesses meant Palestinians, notably younger Palestinians, were free to take part in Fatah protests in the city centers. And from there it is a short path to the checkpoints with Israel.
The Palestinian Authority and Fatah are organizing the rallies in the city centers, but a key question is whether the Palestinian security services will stop demonstrators from reaching the potential flashpoints. In light of the Palestinian-Arab-Muslim consensus against US President Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem, PA security may receive orders not to step in to block protesters on their way to the checkpoints, except, perhaps, to prevent the use of firearms.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday said US President Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem has ended Washington’s historic role as the key sponsor for Israel-Palestinian peace talks, and called for an emergency meeting of the Palestinian leadership.PA: VP Pence 'unwelcome' after J'lm recognition
“These reprehensible and rejected measures constitute a deliberate undermining of all peace efforts,” said Abbas of Trump’s decision.
Abbas said Trump’s speech “represents a declaration that the United States has withdrawn from playing the role it has played in the past decades in sponsoring the peace process.”
Abbas accused Trump of “violating international resolutions and bilateral agreements,” and said the decision was a “reward to Israel for denying agreements and defying international legitimacy that encourages it to continue the policy of occupation, settlement, apartheid and ethnic cleansing.”
Since the early 1990s, the US has been the key mediator for peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians.
The Palestinian Authority announced Thursday that Vice President Mike Pence would not be welcomed during his visit to Israel later this month, following President Donald Trump’s announcement Wednesday recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and ordering the relocation of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.Abbas vows Palestinian rage will continue: ‘We’ll never back down’
On Wednesday, President Trump broke with decades-old American policy by formally recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city, and declaring his intentions to move the US embassy to the Israeli capital. The move drew criticism from European allies and threats from across the Middle East.
The Palestinian Authority claimed that the embassy move marked the “end of the peace process”, claiming the US could no longer serve as a fair broker in a potential final status agreement.
On Thursday, a senior PA official announced that representatives of the Trump administration, including Vice President Pence, would not be welcomed.
Vice President Pence is expected to visit Israel from December 17th to the 19th, and had been scheduled to meet with both Israeli and PA leaders.
Pence is also expected to address the Knesset, making him the first senior US official to do so since President Bush spoke before the Israeli parliament in 2008.
Palestinians will “never back down” and “will not allow implementation” of new US policy in Jerusalem, a spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Friday, as thousands protested and clashed with Israeli security forces throughout the West Bank.3,000 Palestinians hold violent protests across West Bank, Gaza over Jerusalem
The spokesman vowed that Palestinian “rage” would continue.
Abbas’s Fatah movement said earlier that by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, Trump issued “a declaration of war against the Palestinian people,” Army Radio reported. The US president had harmed the Arab and Muslim nation, a Fatah spokesman said. “Someone with no right to intervene had awarded [Jerusalem] to someone with no right to it,” the radio reported quoted the spokesman saying.
Jibril Rajoub, a senior Fatah official, said Thursday that US Vice President Mike Pence — due in the region later this month — was now “unwanted in Palestine.”
Abbas’s spokesman appeared to confirm that a meeting between the PA chief and Pence was no longer in the cards.
“Jerusalem is more important than the US administration, and we will not give it up for a meeting,” he said.
An estimated 3,000 Palestinian protesters held demonstrations and clashed with Israeli security forces at some 30 locations across the West Bank and Gaza Strip on Friday after midday prayers, in a show of anger over US President Donald Trump’s declared recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.Malaysians, Indonesians, Pakistanis protest Trump’s Jerusalem move
Palestinian officials said one demonstrator was killed at the Gaza border fence. At one point the Gaza health ministry said another man was killed, but later retracted the statement, saying he was in serious condition.
The Israeli army said it fired on two “inciters” at the fence. It said there was six points along the fence where protesters gathered and burned tires. The Red Cross in Gaza reported that 15 people were injured by tear gas and rubber bullets.
In the West Bank, the Palestinian demonstrators threw rocks and Molotov cocktails, and set fire to tires and rolled them at Israeli security forces, who generally retaliated with less-lethal riot dispersal equipment, like tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets, and in some cases with live fire.
Palestinian protesters also burned pictures and effigies of Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as Israeli and American flags.
Muslims in Indonesia, Pakistan and Malaysia protested outside US embassies Friday against US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.Israeli-Arab politicians join the protest against Trump's declaration
In Kuala Lumpur, more than 1,000 protesters led by Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin marched from a nearby mosque after Friday prayers to the US Embassy, halting traffic as they chanted “Long live Islam” and “Destroy Zionists.” Many carried banners, some of which said “Free Palestine” and “Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine.”
Khairy addressed Trump in a speech after handing a protest note to an embassy official, saying “Mr. President, this is an illegal announcement. Jerusalem is an occupied territory. You must not even set foot in Jerusalem. … The world will rise against the United States.”
Muslims march to the US Embassy during a protest in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, December 8, 2017. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
“Trump has to understand that Jerusalem is not his to give and the decision for whatever status of Jerusalem should not come from America,” said Ulya Aqamah bin Husamudin, a leader of the political party BERSATU.
Nurul Hidayah Mesari, a student, compared Jerusalem to the holy Muslim cities of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia, saying “it’s as if those places were occupied as well, that’s our feeling.”
MK Yosef Jabareen joined the tens of thousands in the protest against US President Donald Trump's declaration that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel on Friday in the West Bank city of Umm al-Fahm.Ignoring Exile of Jews, NY Times Approvingly Notes East Jerusalem "Was Exclusively Arab in 1967"
He stated at the event that Trump's comments deny the historical rights of Palestinians in the city of Jerusalem and spits in the face of the international committee.
The protest is the largest protest to take place in the West Bank in Israel's history and was initiated by the Peoples Committee in the city.
Trump's announcement reversed decades of US policy, angering the Arab world and alarming Western allies. But he also said Washington was not laying down a position on "final-status" issues including boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem, which the two parties would have to decide in negotiations.
Israel has long deemed Jerusalem its eternal, indivisible capital. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a state they seek on land Israel took in a 1967 war. Its eastern sector is laden with Jewish, Muslim and Christian holy sites that inject deep religious sensitivities into the dispute over sovereignty.
Amidst some questionable journalism about the American move to acknowledge the location of Israel's capital, a passage in yesterday's New York Times editorial stands out as particularly stunning and perverse.New York Times Downplays Judaism's Ties to Jerusalem
The editorial, titled "Does Trump Want Peace in the Middle East," effectively ratifies the cleansing of Jews from Jerusalem's Old City and other formerly Jewish areas of Jerusalem during the 1948 Independence War.
In a paragraph criticizing the return of Jews to what the newspaper describes as "settlements" in those parts of Jerusalem, the editorial bases its disapproval on the fact that "East Jerusalem was exclusively Arab in 1967."
It is true that this section of Jerusalem was exclusively Arab in 1967. This is because Jews, long a majority and plurality in these parts of the city, were forced out in 1948, when the area was seized by Jordanian troops. Jerusalem neighborhoods like the Jewish Quarter, Shimon Hatzadik, and Silan indeed became Jew-free, their synagogues razed and their cemeteries desecrated.
In advance of President Trump's official recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, The New York Times engaged in historical revisionism about Jerusalem with the publication of a lengthy background essay that minimizes historic Jewish ties to the city ("The Conflict in Jerusalem Is Distinctly Modern: Here's the History"). The article was filled with erroneous assertions, misleading quotes and belittling aspersions about Jewish belief.Al-MSNBC Declares 3 Days of Rage
The article's historical departure point is "1917-48: British Mandate," and it begins with a quote, devoid of context, to imply that Jerusalem was relatively unimportant to Jews both before and during that time:
"It was for the British that Jerusalem was so important – they are the ones who established Jerusalem as a capital," said Prof. Yeshoshua Ben-Arieh, a historical geographer at Hebrew University. "Before, it was not anyone's capital since the times of the First and Second Temples."
Not mentioned in the article is that the same professor noted in his book, Jerusalem in the Nineteenth Century, that under the Ottoman empire, in the 19th century, "Jerusalem became the principal town of Eretz Israel (or Palestine, as it was then known)." He wrote that the Jewish population comprised a majority in Jerusalem's Old City, which prompted construction of new Jewish neighborhoods outside the walls of the Old City to accommodate the population growth. "By the start of the First World War," Ben-Arieh wrote, "the Jewish community in Jerusalem numbered about 45,000, out of a population of 70,000 (with 12,000 Muslims and 13,000 Christians)."
Why would so many Jews want to live in Jerusalem, if it was unimportant to them? As the author explained in his book:
The basis for the great increase in the Jewish population of Jerusalem was the intense yearning for the eternal city and the flow of immigrants into it, which began, for religious motives, in the 1840's. Jews continued to come to Jerusalem in the periods of the First and Second Aliyah as well.
During the period of early Zionism, Ben-Arieh acknowledged, Jews flocked more to Jerusalem than to the agricultural settlements outside the city because "many Jews preferred to come and settle in Jerusalem."
President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that the United States would officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and would begin the process of moving the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
This led MSNBC hosts and guests to declare three days of rage.
MSNBC anchors and reporters frequently repeated threats of violence from Palestinians.
"And that is why Palestinian fractions are calling for three days of rage," MSNBC reporter Ayman Mohyeldin said.
"By the way, deaths are coming now because of this," Hardball host Chris Matthews declared. "You can just bet the next few weeks we'll have hell to pay for this totally erratic decision by this president."
Guests on MSNBC joined the chorus that the U.S. and Israel will face violent backlash for Trump's decision.
NBC Correspondent Repeatedly Says Palestinians’ ‘Three Days of Rage’ Started off ‘Peaceful’
NBC correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin has made a point to refer to the Palestinian protests that broke out in the Gaza Strip and West Bank following President Donald Trump's announcement Wednesday recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel as "peaceful."
Palestinian leaders called for "three days of rage" this week to protest Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and to make preparations to move the U.S. embassy in Israel there.
"We call on all our people in Israel and around the world to gather in city centers and Israeli embassies and consulates, with the aim of bringing about general popular anger," the Palestinian "national and Islamic forces" said in a statement.
Protests subsequently broke out in the Palestinian territories, leading to violent clashes with Israel authorities.
Reporting from the West Bank, Mohyeldin said at least four different times on MSNBC on Thursday that the protests started out as "peaceful" before escalating. Mohyeldin was accompanied on screen by images of flares, fires, and people fleeing the vicinity as he was reporting.
In one clip, Mohyeldin was wearing full-body police armor, including a hazard helmet and bullet-proof vest.
MSNBC’s Ali Velshi Tells Viewers Misleading History of Second Intifada
MSNBC host Ali Velshi on Thursday relayed a misleading history of the Second Intifada to viewers, leaving out key details when he claimed the Palestinian uprising in 2000 was triggered by an Israeli politician visiting a holy site in Jerusalem.
Amid fears from journalists and world leaders that President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel would lead to violent backlash in the Middle East, Velshi recounted the events of the two intifadas, Palestinian uprisings against Israel. The first period of violence occurred from 1987 to 1993, and the second from 2000 to 2005.
"The Second Intifada began in the year 2000," Velshi said. "It was sparked when Israeli politician Ariel Sharon visited a holy site known to the Jewish people as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary."
Velshi noted that the Second Intifada was more violent than the first one, before adding that, in 2005, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Sharon, who by then had become Israel's prime minister, brokered a truce to end the uprising.
Velshi's explanation that Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism, sparked the Second Intifada is the official justification that pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel activists use for the uprising. Palestinians saw Sharon's visit as provocative—arguing it disrupted the "status quo" at Jerusalem's holiest sites, under which Jews have limited access to and are forbidden from praying on the Temple Mount—and began violent protests against Israeli authorities.
That explanation leaves out key details, however. Yasser Arafat, the late Palestinian leader, had already planned the Second Intifada weeks before Sharon went to the Temple Mount. Palestinian Media Watch has documented how the Palestinian leadership prepared a violent uprising after the final round of the Oslo peace negotiations and the 2000 Camp David Summit collapsed under President Bill Clinton.
Undercutting the Left-Wing Message: MSNBC Accidentally Cuts To Palestinians Rioting [VIDEO]
During an MSNBC panel on Jerusalem Wednesday, a technical hiccup made for an awkward moment when suddenly the video cut to Palestinians rioting.Economist: Abbas has “rejected violence” since 2005
The left-wing MSNBC guests were in the middle of voicing their disapproval of President Donald Trump’s intention to declare Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. They feared for the safety of Americans internationally, and for the state of peaceful negotiations with the Palestinians.
Just before the video snafu, political commentator Heidi Przybyla communicated worry over the declaration causing increased hatred for Israel and America. Furthermore, she placed blame on Trump in the event of Americans being killed in response to the White House’s decision.
"I think we have to not only look at what the Palestinians are saying, but what the broader Muslim world is saying...and look at what [President Trump's action does to] make Americans look like they have a target on their back."
Suddenly, the video cut to rioting Palestinians, in mid-barbaric rock-throw, with a shot of an Israeli soldier hunkered down and ready to defend with a machine gun.
Oops!
The sight, complete with the sounds of chaos, seemed to puncture the guests’ theory that the Trump administration was to blame for any potential violence from the peaceful Palestinians, reminding the audience of the warring state of that volatile group in the middle east. The panel went silent.
The clip was meant to be of Jerusalem’s mayor, commenting on Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as belonging to Israel. MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle had to instead read the statement from the mayor.
The pro-Palestinian guests were left a bit speechless.
The Economist weighed in on the US president’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital with a Dec. 7th article titled “Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital makes peace less likely”. The piece reinforced the media’s gloom and doom narrative over the the implications for the peace process following US recognition, suggesting that Palestinians may now feel they have ‘no alternative’ than to engage in violence.An overview of BBC News website coverage of the US embassy story
This leaves the Palestinians isolated, a sentiment palpable on the streets of East Jerusalem this week. They feel abandoned not only by America but by the Arab world and even by their own senior leaders. Jawad Siam, a local leader in Silwan, an Arab neighbourhood of Jerusalem, has harsh words for Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president. “Abbas is always saying there is still a chance for diplomacy and now Trump is making Abbas very small in front of his people.” Ever since his election in 2005, Mr Abbas has rejected violence and called upon his people to pursue statehood through diplomacy. Now the calls from within the Palestinian national movement for a return to intifada, ie, a violent uprising, are growing.
The claim that Abbas has “rejected violence” for the past 12 years mirrors a popular but completely erroneous media theme about the Palestinian movement since the death of Yasser Arafat – one repeated recently by former Secretary of State John Kerry.
However, the facts tell a different story.
Clearly the language used in most of the headlines of those nine written articles portrays the US announcement as a negative development to audiences even before they have read the actual articles. A review of the content of those articles shows that their framing of the story is no less uniform.In Response to US-Jerusalem Embassy Decision, ISIS Threatens to Open Embassy in Washington (satire)
In none of those nine written reports were readers given an accurate and comprehensive overview of the history behind the story. Accounts of Jerusalem’s history, when given, invariably begin in 1967 with some articles making a cursory but unexplained reference to Jordan’s occupation of parts of Jerusalem but no mention made whatsoever of the ethnic cleansing of Jews from parts of the city in 1948 or of the fact that Jerusalem is situated in the territory assigned by the League of Nations for the creation of a Jewish homeland.
Five of the nine written articles and one of the four filmed reports described certain neighbourhoods of Jerusalem as “settlements” and presented a partisan portrayal of “international law”. All but one of the nine written reports promoted partisan maps of Jerusalem produced by the political NGO B’tselem and – in one case – UN OCHA that include among other things portrayal of the Jewish Quarter in the Old City as a ‘settlement’.
The majority of the written reports – seven – unquestioningly portrayed Jerusalem as being the “thorniest” issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and eight of the nine, along with two of the filmed reports, told BBC audiences that the US announcement endangers or even destroys the ‘peace process’ – even though that process made no progress for the past 24 years, despite the US embassy being located in Tel Aviv.
Following the White House’s decision to move the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, ISIS has reacted angrily, pledging that it will open embassies “immediately, and in multiple, coordinated locations” in Washington DC.
Though ISIS insists any embassy would be solely used for purposes of visa applications, lost passports and hosting the world’s least fun diplomatic parties, the US remains skeptical. This is mainly due to some services to be offered by the embassy including: “pressure cooker repair classes,” “YouTube comment advocacy seminars,” and “urban truck driving tutorials.”
The website also touts a “Sick of Trump? Then Relocate to Syria” banner, which includes a list of points that is required to be granted residency. The most points will be rewarded to people who are employed in the meatpacking industry. ISIS specified that in order to deter problematic immigrants, residency would be strictly limited to those with a criminal record.