UN to USA: Rescind Trump's Jerusalem Decision



The RINJ Foundation‘s CEO has said that despite close ties to Israel, which welcomed Trump’s December 6, 2017 decision to move the USA Embassy to Jerusalem, the RINJ Board of Directors has questions about the timing of Trump’s precipitous edict given that there has been no general settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli dispute. This should be solved ahead of ex-parte decisions and embassy relocations.

Jerusalem has erupted in violent protests

The UN, this weekend, proposed a solution.

Could US President *Donald Trump’s loose cannon approach spark immediate discussion and solution to the Palestinian-Israeli dispute? (*The misogynistic Trump may not be Time “Person of the Year”  but will be added to the RINJ “Red Lines List” of Evil Men Crossing Red Lines that includes now-ICC-indicted Omar al-Bashir, President of Sudan, Bashar al-Assad of Syria, ousted Robert Mugabe and ICC-accused mass murderer Rodrigo Duterte.)

The UN has offered what appears to be a solution: rescind and delay precipitous decisions until there is a general settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli dispute.

Donald Trump’s constituency is comprised of less than 1% Muslims; 1.5% Jews and  23% Catholics. These are the three monotheistic religions laying claim to Jerusalem’s importance to their religions.

Meanwhile Palestinians have claimed East Jerusalem to be the eventual capital of their “state”. Fifteen hundred million Muslims and twelve hundred million Catholics claim that East Jerusalem is a site of religious relics and human artifacts to which the world holds a claim. That can’t be too hard to respect but the mechanisms for preserving dignity and emotions of these groups need to be discussed and decided.

In light of these facts, how can the USA, a non-party in the debate,  arbitrarily make a unilateral ex-parte decision on the outcome? Has anyone actually heard a good reason for this?

The United Nations General Assembly’s Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People expressed its grave concern Friday over the decision by the United States to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to transfer the United States Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The committee flatly denounced the US decision as have many countries, including Canada, but not all.

Says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “We are holding contacts with other countries who will also recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. I have no doubt that when the US Embassy will move there, and even before that, many embassies will relocate to Jerusalem. It’s about time,” he said.

Israeli officials said last Thursday (Nov. 7)  that both the Czech Republic and the Philippines were eager to move their embassies from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

That Rodrigo Duterte and Donald Trump would enjoin to make globally disruptive public policies there is no doubt in anyone’s mind.

Muslim entities have expressed dismay and shock and for both the USA and the Philippines. The overall disdain by these two men for their respective Muslim populations is self-evident as usual.

Budapest on Wednesday apparently blocked a joint EU statement that would have opposed Trump’s move, European sources told The Times of Israel.

Some countries have said they recognize only West Jerusalem, as Russia did earlier this year.

The Czech foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that it recognizes the pre-1967 west Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Canada has stated that it will not be moving its embassy.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland reaffirmed Canada’s long held position that “the status of Jerusalem can be resolved only as part of a general settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli dispute.”

Arab League Emergency Meeting

The head of the Arab League called US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital “dangerous and unacceptable” and a “flagrant attack on a political solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.

The statement by Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, the regional bloc’s secretary-general, came after an emergency meeting of foreign ministers from 22 Arab states in Egypt’s capital, Cairo, on Saturday.

Trump’s decision was “against international law and raises questions over American efforts to support peace” between Palestine and Israel says the Arab League.

Trump “undermines Arab confidence in his administration“. This amounts to the legalisation of the Israeli occupation of Palestine, added Ahmed Aboul-Gheit.

Israel has declared all of Jerusalem its undivided capital, but the international community never recognized the move, saying the city’s status needed to be determined via final status negotiations with the Palestinians, who claim East Jerusalem as the capital of their own future state. At some point something has to happen to solve this conflict.

The United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People

UN

According to the UN General Assembly Committee unilateral actions such as that of the USA are in flagrant violation of relevant Security Council resolutions, including resolutions 476 (1980) and 478 (1980) and most recently resolution 2334 (2016), as well as a number of General Assembly resolutions, including resolution 181 (II) and most recently resolution A/72/15.

“These decisions will only further embolden Israel, the occupying Power, in pursuing its illegal actions, including its unlawful annexation of East Jerusalem, and heighten tensions, with far‑reaching repercussions and unimaginable consequences in the wider Middle East region and throughout the world.” UN Committee 

The City of Jerusalem, a fulcrum of the Question of Palestine, is of special importance to both Israelis and Palestinians and holds unique spiritual, religious and cultural dimensions and heritage as a sacred city to the followers of the three monotheistic religions.

The international community, through the United Nations, has condemned all measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem and has stated that it will not recognize changes to the 1967 lines, including with regards to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties through negotiations.

It has repeatedly underscored that a comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the question of the City of Jerusalem should take into account the legitimate concerns of both the Palestinian and Israeli sides and should include internationally guaranteed provisions to ensure the freedom of religion and of conscience of its inhabitants, as well as permanent, free and unhindered access to the holy places by people of all religions and nationalities.

The Committee stresses the need for urgent collective efforts to promote peace and security through an end to the Israeli occupation that began in 1967, and calls for the intensification of all international and regional undertakings towards this goal, including those related to the preservation of the two‑State solution, based on the pre‑1967 lines and with East Jerusalem as the capital of the independent State of Palestine.

The Committee strongly urges the Government of the United States to rescind its decisions to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to transfer the United States Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The Committee reaffirms its longstanding support and solidarity with the Palestinian people in their quest to achieve their inalienable rights and legitimate national aspirations, including their right to self‑determination and freedom in an independent State of Palestine, living in peace with all its neighbours.

Note: The United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People was established in 1975 pursuant to General Assembly resolution 3376, with a mandate to advise the General Assembly on programmes to enable Palestinian people to exercise their inalienable rights, including the right to self‑determination without external interference, the right to national independence and sovereignty, and the right to return to their homes and property from which they have been displaced.  The Committee consists of 26 United Nations Member States, while 22 Member States and 2 international organizations act as Observers on the Committee.

Background

Jerusalem

Feminine-Perspective Magazine

Jerusalem – N0946303

Applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the other occupied Arab territories

Applicability of the Geneva Convention relative
to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War,
of 12 August 1949, to the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the other occupied Arab
territories – N0946735

Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan

Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan – N0946741

 Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem

Israeli practices affecting the human rights of
the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem N0946747

Permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources

Permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,
and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan
over their natural resources -N0947293