Trump-Netanyahu axis against the world

US president Donald Trump’s announcement recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel will invite serious repercussions as we had pointed out recently.

Several signs have already started surfacing. The reactions that have come out so far indicate that this change of stance would severely undermine world peace. No country other than Israel has backed Trump’s decision. At the same time, the European Union (EU) countries that maintain friendly ties with the US, Arab countries and the United Nations have strongly come out against the move. Many leaders including the chief of EU for Foreign Affairs, the presidents of France, Turkey, Lebanon and Egypt, German chancellor, Prime Minister of Britain, UN Secretary General, the Pope, King of Jordan, Iran Foreign Affairs Secretary, spokesperson for Arab League and the king of Saudi Arabia have come down heavily on Trump. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sees the US move as an abdication of its role as a mediator in the peace talks; Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has called for a third ‘intifada’. Trump’s absurd decision has sabotaged not only the drama of peace talks that has been initiated on the Palestine issue, but the prospects of actual solutions to the crisis and has pushed the region and even the world into new conflicts.

Jerusalem which is considered a holy city by the Jews, Christians and Muslims had been a part of Palestine for centuries. Instead of freeing Jerusalem, still a British colony seventy years ago, the UN placed it as part of Palestinian soil designating Jerusalem as a special region under international administration. In the 1948 war, Jerusalem got split with the western part coming under Israel. Israel seized east Jerusalem as well in 1967. The Zionist nation that came into existence with the help of UN has always disregarded UN including on the Jerusalem issue. The United Nations Security Council alone has passed 15 resolutions against Israel’s violations. The Zionist nation has not paid heed to any of them. It is the contempt displayed by that nation towards world peace and against its collective conscience that isolated it from the rest of the world. There have been several resolutions that condemn Israel’s invasion and immigration calling it illegal. Resolutions that ban the invasion of Jerusalem are also many in number. By passing Resolution 298, the Security Council in 1971 declared that any move by Israel to change the status of Jerusalem was illegal. Resolution 478 passed in 1980 reiterated the same. It condemned Israel’s law which attempted to change the status of Jerusalem and called on other member states to withdraw their embassies from Jerusalem. Resolution 2334 passed last year stated that Israel’s settlement activity in east Jerusalem had ‘no legal validity’. It declared that any changes to the status which existed before 1969 was unacceptable. Besides the Security Council, UN General Assembly and UNESCO have all criticized the Israeli interventions in Jerusalem.

When the US stance leans more towards the Zionist side, it also rejects other world nations as well as the UN. The world must realize that the deceit by the US which has been shrouded until now has been unveiled. Observers say that the move has caused an irresolvable dent not only to world peace but to the credibility of the US as well. The mask donned by the US of being the mediator in the Israel-Palestine peace talks has been lifted. But Trump is also sacrificing his own nation’s interest for the Zionist country which tantamounts to a move towards the leadership position of the rogue countries that do not obey any rules and regulations. It is time for the world nations who blindly believed America and its ‘peace mission’ to open their eyes. India’s Foreign Affairs Ministry which stated that the country does not side with Trump however, did not express any strong opinion. Historically as well as on the basis of present day realities, our interests lie in siding with the Arab-Palestinian people. It is a moral stance as well. It is to be assumed that the affinity showed by Modi government towards Trump and Israel is preventing us from taking a firm stance. Good sense lies in not damaging our credibility and interests before the vested interests of unethical governments. Foreign Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar had said that a stance would be taken after considering our perspective and interests. If that is correct, then there should be no delay in rejecting Trump’s decision. The present day US and Trump is the price paid for adopting a soft stance towards roguishness at the global level. A firm stance for truth should be taken at least now.