31 jan 2017
By: Ramzy Baroud
Ramzy Baroud is an internationally-syndicated columnist, author, and the founder of PalestineChronicle.com. His latest book is My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza's Untold Story.
US President Donald Trump promises to be pro-Israel in every aspect.
“I'm the best thing that could ever happen to Israel,” he boasted at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s Presidential Forum in Washington DC, in December 2015.
For a brief moment, Trump appeared as if rethinking his unconditional support for Israel, when in February 2016, the Republican presidential nominee pledged ‘neutrality’ between Palestinians and Israelis.
“Let me be sort of a neutral guy,” he said during an MSNBC town hall meeting.
Since then, this position has been surpassed by the most regressive rhetoric, beginning with his speech before the Israeli lobby (AIPAC) conference the following month.
As for Israel, its expectations of the US President are very clear: unconditional financial and military support, blank check to expand illegal settlements in Occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank, and an end to any form of political ‘pressure’ through attempting to revive the so-called ‘peace process.’
Not that Trump has had any qualms with these expectations. The real challenge was that his main rival, Hillary Clinton, was an unprecedentedly ardent supporter of Israel.
She was completely brazen in her groveling before the pro-Israel lobby. Reflecting on the death of former Israeli President Shimon Peres, she told Jewish leaders: “When he spoke, to me it was like listening to a psalm, and I loved sitting and listening to him whether it was about Israel, the nation he loved and did so much to defend, or about peace, or just about life itself.”
She promised them to “protect Israel from delegitimization,” as reported in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz -- ‘delegitimization’ meaning the attempts by civil society groups around the world to boycott Israel for failing to respect international law and the rights of occupied Palestinians.
This is the kind of political landscape that Trump, essentially a businessman not a politician, needed to navigate. In a foray of hasty moves, he has agreed to give Israel what it sought, but going even further than any other US president in modern history by promising to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
It was a clever move at the time, enough to match Clinton’s love offerings for Israel and make Trump the darling of Israel’s right-wing politicians, who now control the government.
The fallout of that promise, if implemented, however, will prove very costly.
If Trump goes through with this, he is likely to unleash chaos in an already volatile region.
The move, which is now reportedly in the “beginning stages,” is not merely a symbolic one, as some have reported in Western mainstream media.
Trump, known for his impulsive nature, is threatening to eradicate even the little common sense that historically governed US foreign policy conduct in the Middle East.
Jerusalem was occupied in two different stages, first by Zionist militias in 1948, and then by the Israeli army in 1967.
Understanding the centrality of Jerusalem to the whole region, British colonialists who had won a League of Nations mandate over Palestine in 1922, were keen for Jerusalem to remain an international hub.
Israel, however, took the city by force, referencing some self-serving interpretation of biblical text that supposedly designates Jerusalem as the ‘eternal’ capital of the Jewish people.
In 1980, Israel officially annexed Jerusalem in violation of international law to the dismay of the international community, which has continually rejected and condemned Israeli occupation.
Even countries that are considered allies of Israel -- including the United States -- reject Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem and refuse the Israeli invitation to relocate their embassies from Tel Aviv to the illegally occupied city.
Yet, since 1995, the US position has vacillated between the historically pro-Israel US Congress and the equally pro-Israel, but more pragmatic White House.
In October 1995, the US Congress passed the Jerusalem Embassy Act. The Act was passed by an overwhelming majority in both the House and Senate. It called Jerusalem the undivided capital of Israel and urged the State Department to move the US embassy to Jerusalem.
US administrations under Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama have signed a presidential waiver that deferred the Congressional bill, six months at a time.
The last time the waiver was signed by former President Obama was on Dec. 1, 2016.
Now, the opportunistic real-estate mogul enters the White House with an alarming agenda that looks identical to that of the current Israeli government of right-wingers and ultranationalists.
"We have now reached the point where envoys from one country to the other could almost switch places," Palestinian professor Rashid Khalidi wrote in the New Yorker.
This comes at the worst possible time, as new bills are springing up in the Israeli Knesset to annex even the Jewish settlements rendered illegal by Israel’s own definitions, and to remove any restriction on new settlement construction and expansion.
Over the course of just a few days following Trump’s inauguration, the Israeli government has ordered the construction of thousands of new housing units in Occupied Jerusalem.
Even traditional allies of the US and Israel are alarmed by the grim possibilities resulting from the nascent Trump-Israel alliance.
Speaking to the Paris peace conference on January 15, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault warned Trump about the "very serious consequences" that await in case the US embassy is, in fact, moved to Jerusalem.
Palestinians and Arabs understand that moving the embassy is far from being a symbolic move, but a carte blanche to complete the Israeli takeover of the city -- including its holy sites -- and complete the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian Muslims and Christians.
The Trump administration’s gamble in moving the US embassy is likely to ignite a political fire throughout Palestine and the Middle East with horrific and irreversible outcomes.
Considering the significance of Jerusalem to Palestinian Muslims and Christians, and hundreds of millions of believers around the world, Trump might, indeed, be igniting a powder keg that would further derail his already embattled presidency.
In a recent interview with Fox News, Trump restated the tired jargon of how “badly” Israel has been treated and that relations between Washington and Tel Aviv have been “repaired.”
But he then refused to talk about moving the embassy because “it’s too early.”
This might be his way of backtracking in order to avert a crisis. It is a downgraded position from that stated by his senior adviser, Kellyanne Conway, who had recently stated that moving the embassy was a “very big priority.”
Even if the embassy move is delayed, the danger still remains, as Jewish settlements are now growing exponentially, thus compromising the status of the city.
The fact is that Trump’s lack of clear foreign policy that aims at creating stability -- not rash decisions to win lobby approval -- is a dangerous political strategy.
He wants to reverse the legacy of his predecessor, yet has no legacy of his own, which is the very formula needed to invite more violence and to push an already volatile region further into the abyss.
Ramzy Baroud is an internationally-syndicated columnist, author, and the founder of PalestineChronicle.com. His latest book is My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza's Untold Story.
US President Donald Trump promises to be pro-Israel in every aspect.
“I'm the best thing that could ever happen to Israel,” he boasted at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s Presidential Forum in Washington DC, in December 2015.
For a brief moment, Trump appeared as if rethinking his unconditional support for Israel, when in February 2016, the Republican presidential nominee pledged ‘neutrality’ between Palestinians and Israelis.
“Let me be sort of a neutral guy,” he said during an MSNBC town hall meeting.
Since then, this position has been surpassed by the most regressive rhetoric, beginning with his speech before the Israeli lobby (AIPAC) conference the following month.
As for Israel, its expectations of the US President are very clear: unconditional financial and military support, blank check to expand illegal settlements in Occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank, and an end to any form of political ‘pressure’ through attempting to revive the so-called ‘peace process.’
Not that Trump has had any qualms with these expectations. The real challenge was that his main rival, Hillary Clinton, was an unprecedentedly ardent supporter of Israel.
She was completely brazen in her groveling before the pro-Israel lobby. Reflecting on the death of former Israeli President Shimon Peres, she told Jewish leaders: “When he spoke, to me it was like listening to a psalm, and I loved sitting and listening to him whether it was about Israel, the nation he loved and did so much to defend, or about peace, or just about life itself.”
She promised them to “protect Israel from delegitimization,” as reported in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz -- ‘delegitimization’ meaning the attempts by civil society groups around the world to boycott Israel for failing to respect international law and the rights of occupied Palestinians.
This is the kind of political landscape that Trump, essentially a businessman not a politician, needed to navigate. In a foray of hasty moves, he has agreed to give Israel what it sought, but going even further than any other US president in modern history by promising to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
It was a clever move at the time, enough to match Clinton’s love offerings for Israel and make Trump the darling of Israel’s right-wing politicians, who now control the government.
The fallout of that promise, if implemented, however, will prove very costly.
If Trump goes through with this, he is likely to unleash chaos in an already volatile region.
The move, which is now reportedly in the “beginning stages,” is not merely a symbolic one, as some have reported in Western mainstream media.
Trump, known for his impulsive nature, is threatening to eradicate even the little common sense that historically governed US foreign policy conduct in the Middle East.
Jerusalem was occupied in two different stages, first by Zionist militias in 1948, and then by the Israeli army in 1967.
Understanding the centrality of Jerusalem to the whole region, British colonialists who had won a League of Nations mandate over Palestine in 1922, were keen for Jerusalem to remain an international hub.
Israel, however, took the city by force, referencing some self-serving interpretation of biblical text that supposedly designates Jerusalem as the ‘eternal’ capital of the Jewish people.
In 1980, Israel officially annexed Jerusalem in violation of international law to the dismay of the international community, which has continually rejected and condemned Israeli occupation.
Even countries that are considered allies of Israel -- including the United States -- reject Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem and refuse the Israeli invitation to relocate their embassies from Tel Aviv to the illegally occupied city.
Yet, since 1995, the US position has vacillated between the historically pro-Israel US Congress and the equally pro-Israel, but more pragmatic White House.
In October 1995, the US Congress passed the Jerusalem Embassy Act. The Act was passed by an overwhelming majority in both the House and Senate. It called Jerusalem the undivided capital of Israel and urged the State Department to move the US embassy to Jerusalem.
US administrations under Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama have signed a presidential waiver that deferred the Congressional bill, six months at a time.
The last time the waiver was signed by former President Obama was on Dec. 1, 2016.
Now, the opportunistic real-estate mogul enters the White House with an alarming agenda that looks identical to that of the current Israeli government of right-wingers and ultranationalists.
"We have now reached the point where envoys from one country to the other could almost switch places," Palestinian professor Rashid Khalidi wrote in the New Yorker.
This comes at the worst possible time, as new bills are springing up in the Israeli Knesset to annex even the Jewish settlements rendered illegal by Israel’s own definitions, and to remove any restriction on new settlement construction and expansion.
Over the course of just a few days following Trump’s inauguration, the Israeli government has ordered the construction of thousands of new housing units in Occupied Jerusalem.
Even traditional allies of the US and Israel are alarmed by the grim possibilities resulting from the nascent Trump-Israel alliance.
Speaking to the Paris peace conference on January 15, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault warned Trump about the "very serious consequences" that await in case the US embassy is, in fact, moved to Jerusalem.
Palestinians and Arabs understand that moving the embassy is far from being a symbolic move, but a carte blanche to complete the Israeli takeover of the city -- including its holy sites -- and complete the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian Muslims and Christians.
The Trump administration’s gamble in moving the US embassy is likely to ignite a political fire throughout Palestine and the Middle East with horrific and irreversible outcomes.
Considering the significance of Jerusalem to Palestinian Muslims and Christians, and hundreds of millions of believers around the world, Trump might, indeed, be igniting a powder keg that would further derail his already embattled presidency.
In a recent interview with Fox News, Trump restated the tired jargon of how “badly” Israel has been treated and that relations between Washington and Tel Aviv have been “repaired.”
But he then refused to talk about moving the embassy because “it’s too early.”
This might be his way of backtracking in order to avert a crisis. It is a downgraded position from that stated by his senior adviser, Kellyanne Conway, who had recently stated that moving the embassy was a “very big priority.”
Even if the embassy move is delayed, the danger still remains, as Jewish settlements are now growing exponentially, thus compromising the status of the city.
The fact is that Trump’s lack of clear foreign policy that aims at creating stability -- not rash decisions to win lobby approval -- is a dangerous political strategy.
He wants to reverse the legacy of his predecessor, yet has no legacy of his own, which is the very formula needed to invite more violence and to push an already volatile region further into the abyss.
30 jan 2017
The Washington Post newspaper disclosed that the new US president Donald Trump along with a number of his associates are among donors who fund Beit El settlement near Ramallah.
The American newspaper reported that Jewish settlers of Beit El are happy for Trump's inauguration as the US President and started development projects in Beit El settlement, which was established on Palestinian lands in 1977. Beit El settlers have recently opened a religious school regardless of the controversy on constructing any new building in the settlement.
The report pointed out that many of Trump’s retinue have strong bonds with Israeli extremist right wing figures including David Friedman, who was nominated by Trump as the US ambassador to Israel. He also occupies the position of Head of the American Friends of Beit El Institution, which collects annual donations for the settlement estimated at 2 million American dollars.
The American newspaper reported that Jewish settlers of Beit El are happy for Trump's inauguration as the US President and started development projects in Beit El settlement, which was established on Palestinian lands in 1977. Beit El settlers have recently opened a religious school regardless of the controversy on constructing any new building in the settlement.
The report pointed out that many of Trump’s retinue have strong bonds with Israeli extremist right wing figures including David Friedman, who was nominated by Trump as the US ambassador to Israel. He also occupies the position of Head of the American Friends of Beit El Institution, which collects annual donations for the settlement estimated at 2 million American dollars.
Israel-based Magal Security Systems Ltd. seeks this week to persuade officials in Washington to grant it a contract to take part in the construction of the wall the new US administration is planning to build on the American-Mexican borders.
According to Bloomberg News, Magal’s US-based Senstar branch will present its FiberPatrol product at a conference on border security which will be held on Tuesday in Alexandria, Virginia.
Magal company built a security fence on the borders of the Gaza Strip late last summer and provided it with modern technology including cameras, motion sensors and satellite surveillance. The company was also a major contractor of Israel's separation wall in the West Bank.
Magal Chief Executive Officer Saar Koursh said that officials from the US Department of Homeland Security and other authorities will participate in Alexandria conference which is organized by military-industrial companies.
Magal shares jumped 5.6% last Friday, a day after the new US president Donald Trump stated that building a border wall will completely stop border breaches.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, expressed support last Saturday for Magal and Trump plans and said on Twitter, "President Trump is right. I built a wall along Israel’s (the 1948 occupied Palestine) southern border. It stopped all illegal immigration."
According to Bloomberg News, Magal’s US-based Senstar branch will present its FiberPatrol product at a conference on border security which will be held on Tuesday in Alexandria, Virginia.
Magal company built a security fence on the borders of the Gaza Strip late last summer and provided it with modern technology including cameras, motion sensors and satellite surveillance. The company was also a major contractor of Israel's separation wall in the West Bank.
Magal Chief Executive Officer Saar Koursh said that officials from the US Department of Homeland Security and other authorities will participate in Alexandria conference which is organized by military-industrial companies.
Magal shares jumped 5.6% last Friday, a day after the new US president Donald Trump stated that building a border wall will completely stop border breaches.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, expressed support last Saturday for Magal and Trump plans and said on Twitter, "President Trump is right. I built a wall along Israel’s (the 1948 occupied Palestine) southern border. It stopped all illegal immigration."
The Arab League has condemned the new US administration’s intention to relocate its embassy to Occupied Jerusalem, warning that it would be “an act of aggression against the Palestinian people’s right to their eternal capital.”
Assistant secretary-general for Palestinian affairs Sa’ied Abu Ali told journalists on Sunday that such step would be considered “a gross violation of the international law and a renunciation of the historical US positions with regard to the holy city.”
Abu Ali expressed hope that US president Donald Trump would backtrack on the promise he had made during his election campaign about moving the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
“The position that had been voiced by president Trump during the election needs more prudence, and we look forward to the new US administration reconsidering its position in this regard in order to serve its role as an objective sponsor of the peace process,” the Arab League official stated.
Assistant secretary-general for Palestinian affairs Sa’ied Abu Ali told journalists on Sunday that such step would be considered “a gross violation of the international law and a renunciation of the historical US positions with regard to the holy city.”
Abu Ali expressed hope that US president Donald Trump would backtrack on the promise he had made during his election campaign about moving the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
“The position that had been voiced by president Trump during the election needs more prudence, and we look forward to the new US administration reconsidering its position in this regard in order to serve its role as an objective sponsor of the peace process,” the Arab League official stated.
29 jan 2017
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed on Sunday his support for the US embassy to Israel moving from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, further adding that “all embassies should come here.”
In a statement during the Israeli security cabinet’s weekly meeting, Netanyahu emphasized the “fundamental” relationship between the United States and Israel.
“There is no substitute for this alliance. Our relations are tight and getting tighter, and I would like to take this opportunity to make it unequivocally clear that our position has always been, and will always be, that the US embassy needs to be here, in Jerusalem,” the prime minister said.
“Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and it is proper that not only should the American embassy be here, but all embassies should come here, and I believe that over time most of them will indeed come here, to Jerusalem.”
Netanyahu’s statements came two days after US President Donald Trump told Fox News that it was “too early” to talk about his controversial campaign promise to move the US embassy to Jerusalem.
Mark Zell, the co-chairman of the Republican Overseas Israel group had accused Netanyahu earlier on Sunday of being behind Trump’s decision to delay the embassy move, The Jerusalem Post reported.
The prospect of an embassy location change has been met with applause by right-wing Israeli officials and strongly condemned by Palestinians and the international community.
The move would in effect amount to American recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, effectively torpedoing efforts to implement a two-state solution with East Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state.
The fate of Jerusalem has been a focal point of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for decades, with numerous tensions arising over Israeli threats regarding the status of non-Jewish religious sites in the city, and the "Judaization" of East Jerusalem through settlement construction and mass demolitions of Palestinian homes.
The Israeli government has openly expressed its anticipation for a Trump presidency, which right-wing politicians believe will make it easier to advance plans to expand Israeli settlements and consolidate Israeli annexation of East Jerusalem and other parts of the West Bank.
Last month, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Secretary-General Saeb Erekat warned that the PLO would revoke all previously signed agreements with Israel as well as the PLO’s 1993 recognition of Israel if Trump followed through on his pledge to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Erekat reportedly said such a move would indicate the US’s acceptance of “Israel’s illegal annexation of East Jerusalem,” and further warned that “any hope of peace in the future will just vanish."
While members of the international community have rested the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the discontinuation of illegal Israeli settlements and the establishment of a two-state solution, Israeli leaders have instead shifted further to the right as many Knesset members have called for an escalation of settlement building in the occupied West Bank, and with some having advocated for its complete annexation.
In a statement during the Israeli security cabinet’s weekly meeting, Netanyahu emphasized the “fundamental” relationship between the United States and Israel.
“There is no substitute for this alliance. Our relations are tight and getting tighter, and I would like to take this opportunity to make it unequivocally clear that our position has always been, and will always be, that the US embassy needs to be here, in Jerusalem,” the prime minister said.
“Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and it is proper that not only should the American embassy be here, but all embassies should come here, and I believe that over time most of them will indeed come here, to Jerusalem.”
Netanyahu’s statements came two days after US President Donald Trump told Fox News that it was “too early” to talk about his controversial campaign promise to move the US embassy to Jerusalem.
Mark Zell, the co-chairman of the Republican Overseas Israel group had accused Netanyahu earlier on Sunday of being behind Trump’s decision to delay the embassy move, The Jerusalem Post reported.
The prospect of an embassy location change has been met with applause by right-wing Israeli officials and strongly condemned by Palestinians and the international community.
The move would in effect amount to American recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, effectively torpedoing efforts to implement a two-state solution with East Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state.
The fate of Jerusalem has been a focal point of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for decades, with numerous tensions arising over Israeli threats regarding the status of non-Jewish religious sites in the city, and the "Judaization" of East Jerusalem through settlement construction and mass demolitions of Palestinian homes.
The Israeli government has openly expressed its anticipation for a Trump presidency, which right-wing politicians believe will make it easier to advance plans to expand Israeli settlements and consolidate Israeli annexation of East Jerusalem and other parts of the West Bank.
Last month, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Secretary-General Saeb Erekat warned that the PLO would revoke all previously signed agreements with Israel as well as the PLO’s 1993 recognition of Israel if Trump followed through on his pledge to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Erekat reportedly said such a move would indicate the US’s acceptance of “Israel’s illegal annexation of East Jerusalem,” and further warned that “any hope of peace in the future will just vanish."
While members of the international community have rested the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the discontinuation of illegal Israeli settlements and the establishment of a two-state solution, Israeli leaders have instead shifted further to the right as many Knesset members have called for an escalation of settlement building in the occupied West Bank, and with some having advocated for its complete annexation.
Mexico's government rebuked Saturday the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a tweet applauding U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to build a border wall with Mexico to keep out immigrants.
Netanyahu said on Twitter earlier on Saturday: "President Trump is right. I built a wall along Israel's southern border. It stopped all illegal immigration. Great success. Great idea."
The comment was swiftly rejected by leaders of the Jewish community in Mexico, and prompted an unusually blunt statement from Mexico's foreign ministry.
"The Foreign Ministry expressed to the government of Israel, via its ambassador in Mexico, its profound astonishment, rejection and disappointment over Prime Minister Netanyahu's message on Twitter about the construction of a border wall," the ministry's statement read.
The Central Committee of the Jewish Community in Mexico issued a statement saying it "forcefully rejected" Netanyahu's comment, while several prominent Mexicans of Jewish origin sharply criticized the Israeli leader on Twitter.
Mexico's government and Trump have been locked in a bitter dispute over his election campaign promise to build a wall on the U.S. southern border that he says Mexico will pay for. Mexico has repeatedly said it will not pay for the wall.
Netanyahu said on Twitter earlier on Saturday: "President Trump is right. I built a wall along Israel's southern border. It stopped all illegal immigration. Great success. Great idea."
The comment was swiftly rejected by leaders of the Jewish community in Mexico, and prompted an unusually blunt statement from Mexico's foreign ministry.
"The Foreign Ministry expressed to the government of Israel, via its ambassador in Mexico, its profound astonishment, rejection and disappointment over Prime Minister Netanyahu's message on Twitter about the construction of a border wall," the ministry's statement read.
The Central Committee of the Jewish Community in Mexico issued a statement saying it "forcefully rejected" Netanyahu's comment, while several prominent Mexicans of Jewish origin sharply criticized the Israeli leader on Twitter.
Mexico's government and Trump have been locked in a bitter dispute over his election campaign promise to build a wall on the U.S. southern border that he says Mexico will pay for. Mexico has repeatedly said it will not pay for the wall.