On Wednesday, December 6th, President Trump made history by announcing that the United States officially recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. He also ordered the US embassy to move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, reversing almost seven decades of foreign policy. Most of the Middle East reacted in a predictable manner.
“Today, we finally acknowledge the obvious: that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital. This is nothing more or less than a recognition of reality.” – President Trump
Iran
The Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, reacted to the president’s announcement angrily: “That they claim they want to announce Quds as the capital of Occupied Palestine is because of their incompetence and failure.” Quds is the Arabic name for Jerusalem; Khamenei also refused to acknowledge Israel in his statement; he instead tellingly referred to it as “Occupied Palestine.” He went on to say, “The issue of Palestine today is at the top of the political issues for Muslims and everyone is obligated to work and struggle for the freedom and salvation of the people of Palestine.”
It is out of despair & debility that they want to declare #AlQuds as capital of the Zionist regime. On issue of #Palestine their hands are tied & they can't achieve their goals. Victory belongs to Islamic Ummah. Palestine will be free, Palestinian nation will achieve victory.
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) December 6, 2017
Palestine
The Chairman of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, claimed that by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, President Trump will “serve the extremist organizations which seek to lead the region into endless religious wars.” Another official in the Palestinian Authority stated that “this is the end of US involvement in the peace process.” Abbas also claimed that “these procedures represent a reward for Israel to deny the agreements and its defiance of international legitimacy and encouraged her to pursue a policy of occupation and settlement and apartheid and ethnic cleansing.”
https://twitter.com/president_abbas/status/938486992781922304
Translation: “President #MahmoudAbbas: the US Administration chose to violate all international and bilateral agreements and resolutions and preferred to ignore and contradict the international consensus expressed by the positions of the various countries and world leaders and spiritual leaders and regional organizations over the past few days on the theme of #Jerusalem.”
Turkey
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called the status of Jerusalem a “red line” for Muslims, saying that if the United States was moving forward with recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Turkey would sever their diplomatic ties with Israel.
ABD'yi, bölgedeki sorunları daha da derinleştirecek böyle bir adım atmaması konusunda ikaz ediyoruz.
Kudüs, Müslümanların kırmızı çizgisidir.
— Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RTErdogan) December 5, 2017
Translation: “The wounds of the Palestinian people continued to bleed, rights violations, tyranny and oppression, the nature of support to Israel in such a decision is not only a violation of international law, but also a heavy blow against the conscience of humanity. The United States will deepen the region’s problems, we are warning them to not take this step further. Jerusalem is the red line for Muslims.”
Protests, Flag Burning, and Threats of Violence
Throughout the rest of the Muslim world, protests broke out en masse. In Gaza, hundreds of Palestinians took to the streets to protest and burn American and Israeli flags. The terror group Hamas called for more protests in the coming days. In Beirut, Palestinian refugees took to the streets to protest President Trump’s actions; in Turkey, demonstrations were held near US diplomatic locations. The Turkish government has called for leaders of Arab nations to convene an emergency meeting in Turkey to discuss what the announcement means for them, while already threatening that the decision will “start a fire with no end in sight.”
