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Steven Emerson,
Executive Director
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December 7, 2017
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U.S.-Based
Israel Bashers' Fury and Disapproval Over Trump's Jerusalem Recognition
by Ariel Behar
IPT News
December 7, 2017
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Anti-Zionist groups
were quick to pounce Wednesday following President Trump's proclamation
acknowledging Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
In a statement, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), a virulently
anti-Israel organization, "unequivocally condemn[ed] President Trump's
announcement that he will begin the process of moving the U.S. embassy to
Jerusalem as part of recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital, a move that
would make the U.S. the only country in the world to do so."
In contrast, Russia recognized West Jerusalem as Israel's capital in April,
and after Trump's speech Wednesday, the Czech Republic also said it would recognize West Jerusalem as Israel's
capital.
But for those who reject Israel's very existence, Wednesday was a
difficult day.
"#Jerusalem
is not the capital of Israel no matter how many times Trump says it," wrote political activist Linda Sarsour, who has argued Zionists can't be
feminists and that "nothing is creepier than Zionism. "He doesn't
speak for me."
Good thing she cleared that up.
Trump's proclamation "effectively hands Israel a blank political
check for its illegal annexation of Jerusalem and legitimizes Israel's
ongoing displacement and disenfranchisement of the city's Palestinian
residents," said the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR),
an organization leading the push for an economic boycott of Israel.
This statement, along with Sarsour's, ignores the reality that Jerusalem
has been Israel's capital since 1949. It is home to its
parliament, the Knesset, as well as the prime minister's residence. The
statements also deliberately ignore Trump's specific caveat that the United States is
"not taking a position of any final status issues, including the
specific boundaries of the Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem, or the
resolution of contested borders. Those questions are up to the parties
involved."
The relocation of the American embassy affects peace talks only if the
Palestinians choose to make that so.
Still, American Muslims for Palestine's (AMP) national policy director
Osama Abuirshaid joined a protest outside the White House to express
outrage and say that Trump should be held responsible for any resulting violence.
"Now our demand is very clear that this administration should inject
some common sense, should inject some logic and withdraw this
announcement," he said.
At a news conference Tuesday, Council on American Islamic Relations
(CAIR) Executive Director Nihad Awad argued that the decision to move the
embassy was due to the disproportionate influence of the "pro-Israel
lobby" in Congress.
Recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital and committing to move the
U.S. embassy there is "a reckless move that has put the interest of a
foreign power and its domestic lobby above the interests of the United
States," he said. Awad, who publicly expressed support for Hamas in 1994 and was linked to a Muslim Brotherhood-run Hamas-support
network, all but called Congress corrupt for the original, bipartisan legislation that makes the move
possible.
"It is really the interest of those politicians who voted, and they
voted. And they voted against the interest of their own country because of
the money, the pressure and the favors that they get from the pro-Israel
lobby," Awad said.
He repeated that message Wednesday standing with Abuirshaid outside the
White House.
The Senate voted
90-0 in June to reaffirm "the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 (Public
Law 104–45) as United States law, and calls upon the President and all
United States officials to abide by its provisions."
As many people have commented this week, no peace proposal has ever
contemplated Israel relinquishing Jerusalem as its capital. While some
argue the U.S. embassy move should wait for a peace agreement, that
strategy has shown no results and ignores the realities of the Israeli
government.
"This may surprise you, but the embassy move does not challenge
Palestinian/Arab/Muslim claims to the city," wrote
Jonathan Schanzer, vice president of research at the Foundation for Defense
of Democracies. "What is happening right now is reflective of the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict historically: Palestine advocates fighting
against Israel rather than for the Palestinian cause."
As President Trump said in his speech, "Peace is never beyond the
grasp of those willing to reach."
Related Topics: The
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) | Ariel Behar,
Jerusalem,
Israel's
capital, U.S.
embassy, Donald
Trump, Linda
Sarsour, Nihad
Awad, U.S.
Campaign for Palestinian Rights, Jewish
Voice for Peace, Osama
Abuirshaid, American
Muslims for Palestine, The
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
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