Trump decision on Jerusalem
 

JERUSALEM/GAZA: The large scale protests, demonstrations and rallies were organised across the world on Thursday particularly in the Muslim countries against Trump?s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israeli capital.
The Hamas urged Palestinians to abandon peace efforts and launch a new uprising against Israel in response to US President Donald Trump?s recognition of Jerusalem as its capital. The Israeli military said it was reinforcing troops in the occupied West Bank, deploying several new army battalions and putting other forces on standby, describing the measures as part of its "readiness for possible developments".
The protests so far have been scattered and largely non-violent. But dozens of Palestinians gathered at two points on the Gaza border fence with Israel and threw rocks at soldiers on the other side. Inside Gaza, thousands of Palestinians rallied, some chanting: "Death to America! Death to the fool Trump!" and burning tyres.
Trump reversed decades of US policy on Wednesday by recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, imperiling Middle East peace efforts and upsetting the Arab world and Western allies alike. The status of Jerusalem, home to sites holy to the Muslim, Jewish and Christian religions, is one of the biggest obstacles to reaching a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.
"We should call for and we should work on launching an intifada (Palestinian uprising) in the face of the Zionist enemy," Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said in a speech in Gaza.
Haniyeh, elected the group?s overall leader in May, urged Palestinians, Muslims and Arabs to hold rallies against the US decision on Friday, calling it a "day of rage".
Naser Al-Qidwa, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and senior official in his Fatah party, urged Palestinians to stage protests but said they should be peaceful.
Trump announced his administration would begin a process of moving the US Embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a step expected to take years and one that his predecessors opted not to take to avoid inflaming tensions.
Other close Western allies of Washington, including France and Britain, have been critical of Trump´s move.
Pope Francis has called for Jerusalem´s status quo to be respected, while China and Russia have also expressed concern.
Meanwhile, the UN Security Council will meet on Friday in emergency session to discuss the decision by US President Donald Trump.
The talks -- requested by eight nations -- will begin at 10:00 am (1500 GMT), but there are other items on the agenda, so the Jerusalem issue may not come up until the late morning, said Japan, which holds the council´s rotating presidency.
Bolivia, Britain, Egypt, France, Italy, Senegal, Sweden and Uruguay requested the talks. They have also asked UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to open the meeting with remarks.
After Trump´s announcement, Guterres said Jerusalem´s final status could only be resolved through direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
Guterres added that he had "consistently spoken out against any unilateral measures."
"There is no alternative to the two-state solution."
Bolivian Ambassador Sacha Sergio Llorenty Soliz called Trump´s move "a reckless and a dangerous decision which goes against international law, the resolutions of the Security Council."
"It´s a threat not just to the peace process, but also it´s a threat to international peace and security," said the envoy.
The EU´s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said, "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.
"Trump´s decision has raised doubts about his administration?s ability to follow through on a peace effort that Trump´s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, has led for months aimed at reviving long-stalled negotiations. The United Nations Security Council is likely to meet on Friday to discuss the US decision, diplomats said.
"United Jerusalem is Arab and Muslim, and it is the capital of the state of Palestine, all of Palestine," he said, referring to territory including Israel as well as the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Haniyeh called on Western-backed Abbas to withdraw from peacemaking with Israel and on Arabs to boycott the Trump administration. Abbas said on Wednesday the United States had abdicated its role as a mediator in peace efforts.
Palestinian factions have called for a general strike and rallies.
Fearing recrimination could disrupt reconciliation efforts between Hamas and Fatah, Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Al-Hamdallah and other Fatah delegates arrived in Gaza on Thursday to meet Hamas. The international community does not recognise Israeli sovereignty over the whole of Jerusalem, believing its status should be resolved in negotiations. No other country has its embassy in Jerusalem. Trump´s decision fulfils a campaign promise and will please Republican conservatives and evangelicals who make up a sizeable portion of his domestic support.
He said his move was not intended to tip the scale in favour of Israel and that any deal involving the future of Jerusalem would have to be negotiated by the parties, but the move was seen almost uniformly in Arab capitals as a sharp tilt towards Israel.
The United States is asking Israel to temper its response to the announcement because Washington expects a backlash and is weighing the potential threat to US facilities and people, according to a State Department document seen by Reuters.
Protests broke out in areas of Jordan´s capital, Amman, inhabited by Palestinian refugees, and several hundred protesters gathered outside the US consulate in Istanbul on Wednesday after Trump´s announcement.
Protests are expected on Thursday in Pakistan, where the government said of Trump´s move: "It is a serious setback to the rule of law and international norms. It signals a severe blow to the Middle East peace process.
"Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan said the United States was "exposing its colonial ambition in Muslim territory".
Palestinians switched off Christmas lights on trees outside Bethlehem´s Church of the Nativity, where Christians believe Jesus was born, and in Ramallah, next to the burial site of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, in protest.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/com/cwEr/~4/35tJ1KktWog

أكثر...