Implications of US Jerusalem shift

When I was born back in 1955, East Jerusalem was part of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. In June 1967, Israeli troops rolled into our city and occupied it. The same month, Israel unilaterally passed a law declaring its sovereignty over the entire city of Jerusalem, including the occupied part. No country in the world, including the US, has recognized this unilateral act.

Now, US Secretary of State

Mike Pompeo has announced a change in the long-standing State Department policy that avoided controversy over the place of birth of Jerusalemites by simply listing their birthplace as Jerusalem. Americans born in Jerusalem can now list their place of birth as either “Israel” or “Jerusalem.” This ill-advised new policy will allow countries, especially Israel, to discriminate between American Jews and American Arabs simply because of where they were born. The idea that passports will have more than one entry in the place of birth line will easily flag up who is Jewish and who is an Arab Jerusalemite. This will increase discrimination against bona fide American citizens who are protected against such actions by the US Constitution. When it comes to discrimination against US citizens, instead of forcefully fighting against it, the State Department is actually enabling it. This issue is personal for me. In 1969, and without much hope of finding a good college education for me and my siblings, my parents decided to emigrate to the US. When I was old enough and after being naturalized, I was able to travel using an American passport. The entry for the place of birth on my newly acquired US travel document was listed as Jerusalem.

Some American Jews born in Jerusalem have wanted to have their place of birth listed as Israel. But the US Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that the president has the exclusive power to recognize (or not) foreign nations. Now, however, the idea of tinkering with this issue has arisen once again. Officials have declared that they want to declare all those born in Jerusalem — including people like me who were born before Israel came to Jerusalem — to have been born in Israel.

US law and the Supreme Court might have given the executive branch the right to recognize countries and therefore legally allow the listing of either Jerusalem or Israel. But such a change will certainly not be wise or conducive to peace and tranquility in the most complex conflict in the world. Bipartisan support, international cooperation and the consent of the conflicting parties are necessary before making such a move.

Any move that is made in Washington regarding Jerusalem can have a direct impact on the Middle East and can easily enable countries to discriminate against full-fledged US citizens.

For four years, the current administration has made repeated pro-Israeli acts while claiming that these moves are ultimately aimed at bringing about peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians. However, these actions have done little to change the basic principles needed for peace.

If the US cannot accomplish these conditions for peace, it should at least avoid enabling discrimination against American citizens.