From peace-broker to peace-breaker

With one stroke, US President Donald Trump has reversed his predecessors’ policy by recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Although Washington has been a vociferous supporter of Israel and has voted in favour of it on most of the resolutions moved against Israeli actions in occupied Palestinian lands, the US has never openly or officially recognised Jerusalem as the Jewish state’s capital.

Now, Trump can claim that dubious distinction. In his speech delivered from the White House, he has mentioned two important points on Jerusalem status in relation to Israeli and Palestinian claims that can be summed up as, “doing something is better than doing nothing.”

Trump said: “While previous presidents have made this a major campaign promise, they failed to deliver. Today I am delivering.” It was his campaign pledge last year and he simply fulfilled the promise he had made to the electorate, mainly pro-Israeli groups.

Potus said his move reflected the reality of Jerusalem as the centre of Jewish faith and the fact that it is the city of the Israeli government. By stating so, Trump has buried the city’s Biblical history and the conflicts revolving around the holy place.

Jerusalem is holy to all the three Abrahamic faiths; particularly, it is the Old City where their historical holy sites are located. The most important among these is the Al Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site for Muslims. Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its capital while Palestinians lay claim to its eastern part as the future capital of an independent Palestinian state. But in the 1967 Mideast conflict, Israel annexed the eastern part and brought it under its control and insists the Jerusalem issue is non-negotiable in any future peace settlement.

For Palestinians, on the other hand, Jerusalem is a rallying point for their struggle. Whenever Palestinians refer to peace process, their statements will not be complete without mentioning ‘Jerusalem as the capital of an independent sovereign Palestinian state.’ For Arabs too, the Old City is as important as it is to the Palestinians and it is one of their unifying factors.

Despite Israeli pressures and pleadings, global powers have never acknowledged Israeli claim to East Jerusalem. They have always wanted a negotiated settlement between Israelis and Arabs, including Palestinians, on the status of Jerusalem.

Ever since the Jewish state was created by a UN resolution in 1948, the western powers, led by the US, have been playing a key role in safeguarding the interests of Israel which is surrounded by hostile Arab neighbours. At the same time, for Palestinians, who are monetarily and morally supported by oil-rich sheikhdoms, an aggressive and militarily powerful Israel is a western conspiracy to dominate the Arab land.

Decades of mistrust between Israelis and Palestinians and intermittent conflicts between both sides in which Israelis have gobbled up swathes of land from their immediate neighbours. Countless peace efforts by different American administrations and similar initiatives by Russia and European Union to find a mutually acceptable solution to the protracted tensions have yielded nothing.

Every peace process has ended in failure because neither side is willing to compromise on its stated position. At the negotiating table, while Israelis blamed Palestinian radical factions for torpedoing the negotiations, the latter accused the hawks in Israeli government of throwing a spanner in the works. The only American president who wanted to bring the Mideast Peace Process to fruition was Barack Obama. But he too failed to break the Mideast jinx during his two terms.

Now, his successor Donald Trump has not only shifted the balance but also ended the chances of new peace initiatives. In recent years, no attempt has been made to resume the stalled peace dialogue, largely because of raging conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Islamic State threat to Arab countries and the world at large. Against this backdrop, Trump’s announcement is seen closing all the doors to a negotiated peace settlement.

Both Arab and western allies feel Trump has broken an unwritten agreement. The country that has so far played the peace-broker role in the region has turned a peace-breaker for no gain. Trump’s claim that he took the decision for advancement of peace holds no water because in return the US has got nothing.

As NYT columnist Thomas Friedman says, it is a Christmas gift to Bibi (Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu). Trump is global Santa Claus, he says and goes on saying that he is the only president in American history to give away without getting anything in return. Trump could have been hailed for his munificent act had he demanded and got some assurances on the status of Jerusalem or clinched a deal on roadmap to peace in the next few years. But, nothing, absolutely nothing.

That’s what amazes political observers and Mideast watchers. Just by shifting American Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, which in any way, takes years, the ground reality will not change much. But Trump has wiped out whatever credibility Washington has in Mideast – for the sake of honouring his poll promise.

As expected, battle lines are being drawn as Palestinian hardliners and militant organizations that have been lying low under the wise counsel of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas are coming out daggers drawn. More ominous is the certainty that countries like Iran which support radical Palestinian groups like Hamas can resume the deadly anti-Israeli campaign.

While Iran said “the move risks a new Intifada or uprising,” Iraq has demanded reversal of US decision. While the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has warned that changing Jerusalem’s status would amount to naked aggression against the Arab and Muslim World, Washington’s most powerful ally in the region, Saudi Arabia, said the US recognition of Jerusalem would constitute a flagrant provocation of Muslims all over the world.

But, little could they do as there is no unity among Arabs and there is no leader to oppose the US. A day after Trump’s announcement, Jerusalem is bracing for massive street protests which can erupt into full-blown violence.

By Madhusudhana Rao S