Proving that Palestinians speak with one voice, Hamas and the Palestine Liberation Organization [PLO] joined forces to protest and riot 71-year-old President Donald Trump’s Dec. 6 decision to validate a 1995 U.S. law passed by Congress recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Since the end of the 1967 Six Day War, Israel annexed Egypt’s Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula, Jordan’s West Bank and East Jerusalem and Syria’s Golan Heights. Israel returned the Sinai to Egypt in a peace deal with Egypt in 1979 thanks to former President Jimmy Carter, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Eyptian President Anwar Sadat. Israel’s late Prime Minister Ariel Sharon returned Gaza to Palestinian control May 19, 1994, leaving only East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Golan Heights under Israeli control. Since the Six Day War, Israel has managed East and West Jerusalem.
Since official U.N. recognition of Israel May 11, 1949, the Jordanians controlled East Jerusalem and the West Bank up until June 10, 1967, when the Jordanian military, together with the PLO, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria, was defeated by Israel. During the 18 year stretch of Jordanian rule, no Palestinian official complained of Jordan’s “occupation” or, for that matter, that Jordan violated Palestinian rights. Only after the 1967 war did Palestinians stake claim to East Jerusalem and the West Bank. When you consider the Israeli Knesset [parliament] has been headquartered in Jerusalem since 1950, the Palestinian reaction to Trump’s recognition makes no sense. Trump never said today’s announcement precludes Palestinians from negotiating for East Jerusalem in future peace talks. Yet the Hamas-PLO combined entity now calls on all Palestinians to rise up to save Jerusalem.
Palestinians have shown no vested interest in West Jerusalem, only the area governing the Al-Aqsa Mosque AKA the Dome of the Rock. ”We should call for and we should work on launching an intifada in the face of the Zionist enemy,” Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh declared today in Gaza. Haniyeh only recently took over leadership May 6 from Khaled Meshaal, based for years in Damascus until forced to live in Doha, Qatar. Haniyeh’s declaration of war against Israel shows that Hamas isn’t really serious about peace discussions with Israel. Haniyeh’s decision really exposes the financial crisis in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. If war breaks out with Israel, Palestinian officials stand to gain billions in donor support, while the people of Gaza and the West Bank suffer. No one in Hamas or the PLO believes the claptrap about “liberating Palestine,” only more death, destruction and terrorism.
When you consider that only Trump announced his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, it’s odd that Palestinians would riot and beat the war drums. Trump’s Dec. 6 decision was based on pushing Palestinians back to the peace table. With the PLO and Hamas only recently coming under one roof, it’s sad that Hamas calls the shots, talking about more war. “Let December 8 be the first day of the intifada against the occupier,” said Haniyeh, using more anti-Zionist rhetoric. Haniyeh knows that Israel has managed East Jerusalem since 1967. With Trump’s declaration, nothing has changed other than implementing a 1995 U.S. law. Nothing in Trump’s message precludes Palestinians from negotiating for East Jerusalem or any other demand returning to peace talks. Staging more suicide bombings, car-rammings, stabbings and other acts of violence make peace talks impossible.
` For 50 years, with few exceptions, Israel has been the faithful caretaker of Christian, Muslim and Jewish holy sites in East Jerusalem. Hamas-PLO act as if Jerusalem is only for Muslims, expressing outrage over Trump’s decision. “We have given instructions to all Hamas members and to all wings to be fully ready for any new instructions or orders that may be give to confront this strategic danger that threatens Jerusalem and threatens Palestine,” said Haniyeh, spewing utter rubbish. Nothing has changed in Jerusalem other than one world leader recognizing it as Israel’s capital. There’s no aggression on Palestinians other than what they bring on themselves. Haniyeh’s distorted view that Jerusalem is a Muslim capital is beyond outrageous, mirroring Hamas’ extremist ideology. Since 1967, Israel guaranteed safe access to all religious sites in Jerusalem.
Running out of cash in Gaza and the West Bank, Palestinian officials hope to capitalize on a new war to bring in Gulf State donors’ cash. “United Jerusalem is Arab and Muslim, and it is the capital of the state of Palestine, all of Palestine,” said Haniyeh, giving the true Hamas position that it wants all of Israel for a future state, Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Haniyeh’s comments are preposterous propaganda but show the daily brainwashing to which Gaza and West Bank are exposed. Gaza and West Bank residents actually believe, as sited in various polls, that Hamas will eventually conquer Israel. Meanwhile Gaza residents live in sordid conditions with only a few hours of electricity daily. Haniyeh’s war-like rhetoric whips Gaza and West Bank residents into suicide-bombing for the cause. Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital hopes to get Palestinians to the peace table.
