Middle East leaders and people condemn America’s ‘provocative’ decision
US president Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel set off alarm bells across the Middle East.
From the Jordanian parliament came a call for people to take to the streets and protest at the American embassy in Amman.
Jordan and the Palestinians yesterday called for an emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers to discuss Mr Trump’s decision. The meeting is likely to take place on Saturday, a diplomatic source said.
Leaders of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the EU, France, Germany and Turkey all warned the US president against such a move.
King Abdullah of Jordan, during a recent visit to Washington, tried to dissuade the Trump government from adopting the controversial decision, saying that such a move would derail peace efforts and stoke anger from Muslims and Christians across the region.
Jordan, a key US ally and partner in the anti-ISIL coalition in Iraq and Syria, has a large Palestinian population and is concerned the US decision would ignite unrest in the Palestinian territories, which would spill over into the country and boost extremism in the region.
“Trump’s decision would lead to a Palestinian uprising, which could spark domestic unrest in Jordan,” said Zaid Nawaiseh, a political analyst in Amman. “Jordan is already struggling. It is aware the peace process has reached a dead end.”
Jordan also has a stake in Jerusalem, as the custodian of Al Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site – a role stipulated in an unpopular peace treaty Jordan signed with Israel in 1994.
“The issue of Jerusalem is sensitive and controversial for the Palestinians, Arabs and the Muslims,” said Osama Al Sharif, a political columnist.
“The timing is difficult to understand, provocative and goes right to the heart of the credibility of the US as an honest broker or mediator.”
In Israel’s northern neighbour, Lebanon, Mr Trump’s decision provoked demonstrations in Palestinian communities across the country.
“The decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem clearly demonstrates the level of Arab dignity and the dignity of Muslims in the head of a superpower that no longer possesses greatness, only insolence and immorality,” said Abed Salameh, who lives in Nahr Al Bared, a Palestinian settlement in north Lebanon.
There are more than 400,000 Palestinian refugees registered with the United Nations in Lebanon.
Lebanese leaders also condemned the decision and more demonstrations were expected tomorrow in the country.
The Hamas representative in Lebanon, Ali Baraka, met Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri “to discuss Palestinian-Lebanese relations”.
Mr Baraka said he had delivered a message to Mr Hariri from Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and received assurances of Mr Hariri’s support in rejecting the US announcement.
“We perceived prime minister Hariri’s keenness on Jerusalem and its Arabism, and he stressed that Lebanon refuses the Judaisation of Jerusalem and the American decision,” Mr Haniyeh said.
“He said that the Lebanese state will take diplomatic and political measures with the Arab and Islamic states and the international community to support the cause and the Arabism of Jerusalem and in refusal of the biased American decision.”
The Americans “are telling us in a direct way that they are with Israel,” Mr Baraka said.
“This will create an uprising in Gaza and the West Bank. No Palestinians will accept this.”
Interior minister Nohad Machnouk wrote: “Jerusalem is ours and we will bring back the splendor of Jerusalem”. The tweet included a clip from a song about Jerusalem by the Lebanese singer Fairuz.
There was no visible increase in Lebanese security forces yesterday around the US embassy in Beirut.
In Egypt, Israel’s neighbour to the south, the only visible sign of protest was a lecture cancelled at the American Research Centre.