Muslims direct anger at Trump
Protests flare, but Jerusalem calm; Israelis kill Gaza man
JERUSALEM — Worshippers across the Muslim world staged anti-U.S. marches Friday, some stomping on posters of President Donald Trump or burning American flags in the largest outpouring of anger yet at the president’s recognition of bitterly contested Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
In the holy city itself, prayers at Islam’s third-holiest site dispersed largely without incident, but Palestinians clashed with Israeli troops in several dozen West Bank hot spots and on the border with the Gaza Strip.
In one skirmish, a 30-yearold Gaza man was killed by Israeli gunfire, the first death of a protester since Trump’s midweek announcement.
Two Palestinians were seriously wounded, health officials said.
Later, Israeli warplanes struck Hamas military targets in the Gaza Strip in response to a rocket fired from the zone, which Israel’s military said was intercepted by its Iron Dome missile-defense system. The Palestinian Health Ministry said at least 15 people were injured in the airstrikes.
Trump’s pivot on Jerusalem triggered warnings from America’s friends and foes alike that he is needlessly stirring more conflict in an already volatile region.
The religious and political dispute over Jerusalem forms the emotional core of the Israeli-Arab conflict. The ancient city is home to major Muslim, Jewish and Christian shrines and looms large in the competing national narratives of Israelis and Palestinians.
Trump’s decision on Jerusalem is widely seen in the region as a blatant expression of pro-Israel bias, but it was unclear if protests and confrontations would maintain momentum after Friday. By nightfall, the protests had died down.
One possible reason for relative calm in the city at the center of the storm was that Israeli police did not try to bar young Palestinian men from attending the noon prayer at Al-Aqsa Mosque, which they had done during previous tense periods. Limiting entry to the Muslim holy site has inflamed passions in the past.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement and other groups had called for three “days of rage” this week. However, Abbas remains an opponent of violence, saying it’s counterproductive and that he might at some point order his security forces to contain protests.
Separately, Fatah’s rival, the Gaza-based Islamic militant group Hamas, called this week for a third uprising against Israel, but such appeals have fizzled as Palestinians become more disillusioned with their leaders.
On Friday, demonstrators in the West Bank torched heaps of tires, sending columns of thick black smoke rising over the cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem. Palestinian stone-throwers traded volleys in the streets with soldiers firing tear gas and rubber bullets. Along the Gaza-Israel border fence, Israeli troops fired at stone-throwers.
Across the region — including in Asia and in North Africa — thousands of worshippers poured into the streets after midday prayers to voice their anger.
PROTESTS AT EMBASSIES
In Indonesia and Malaysia, Muslims protested outside the U.S. embassies Friday.
In Kuala Lumpur, more than 1,000 protesters led by Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin marched from a nearby mosque after Friday prayers to the U.S. Embassy, halting traffic as they chanted “Long live Islam” and “Destroy Zionists.” Many carried banners, some of which said “Free Palestine” and “Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine.”
Khairy addressed Trump in a speech after handing a protest note to an embassy official, saying, “Mr. President, this is an illegal announcement. Jerusalem is an occupied territory. You must not even set foot in Jerusalem. … The world will rise against the United States.”
In Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, more than 300 protesters shouted “Go to hell Israel!” and called on Trump to stop “blind support” for the Jewish state.
Neither Malaysia nor Indonesia has diplomatic ties with Israel and both are strong supporters of Palestinians.
Hundreds of Muslim Kashmiris also marched at several places in the main city of Srinagar and other parts of Indian-controlled Kashmir, chanting slogans “Down with America” and “Down with Israel.” They burned U.S. and Israeli flags, while authorities imposed a curfew in old parts of Srinagar and disallowed Friday prayers at the city’s main mosque for fear protests could lead to violent anti-India rallies.
In Tunisia, President Beji Caid Essebsi summoned the U.S. ambassador to complain about the decision, adviser Noureddine Ben Ticha told Radio Chams.
Thousands of Shiite Houthis protested in war-ravaged Yemen, including in the capital, Sanaa, and other cities, according to the rebel-affiliated al-Masirah TV. Houthi leader Abdul-Malek al-Houthi called on Arabs to besiege U.S. embassies until the decision on Jerusalem was reversed, it reported.
In Jordan’s capital, Amman, thousands of people marched through the center of town, chanting “America is the head of the snake.”
Pro-Western Jordan is a crucial U.S. ally in the fight against Islamic extremists, but King Abdullah II cannot afford to be seen as soft on Jerusalem. His Hashemite dynasty derives its legitimacy from its role as guardian of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
ON THE DEFENSIVE
Trump’s decision has also strained U.S. foreign relations and forced administration officials to defend the president’s move.
U.N. Mideast envoy Nickolay Mladenov told an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council on Friday that Trump’s announcement created a “serious risk” of a chain of unilateral actions that would push the goal of peace farther away.
Palestinian U.N. Ambassador Riyad Mansour warned of the danger of “a never-ending religious war that will only be exploited by extremists, fueling more radicalism, violence and strife in the region and elsewhere.”
Even traditional U.S. allies sharply criticized Trump’s decision.
Swedish U.N. Ambassador Olof Skoog said the U.S. action “contradicts international law and Security Council resolutions.” British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft called the U.S. decision “unhelpful to peace,” the French envoy expressed regret and Italy’s Sebastiano Cardi warned of “the risk of unrest and tensions in the region.”
The U.S. ambassador, Nikki Haley, told the council that the Trump administration is more committed to peace “than we’ve ever been before — and we believe we might be closer to that goal than ever before.” Haley did not explain.
In Europe, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Friday played down the impact of Trump’s policy shift, which also included a pledge to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Tillerson said it likely will take years for the U.S. to open an embassy in Jerusalem.
In a news conference with the French foreign minister, Tillerson said Trump’s recognition of the city as Israel’s capital “did not indicate any final status for Jerusalem.”
The United States is making clear that Jerusalem’s borders will be left to Israelis and Palestinians to “negotiate and decide,” he said.
Trump’s landmark announcement Wednesday, including starting the process of moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, was a stark departure from nearly 70 years of U.S. policy. Predecessors had made similar promises but ultimately balked, fearful of inflaming Muslim passions and alienating Muslim partners.
Tillerson said Friday that logistical concerns will keep the embassy from moving this year or next.
Most countries have not recognized Israel’s 1967 annexation of east Jerusalem and maintain their embassies in Tel Aviv. Under a long-standing international consensus, the fate of the city is to be determined in negotiations.
Trump’s announcement delivered a blow to Abbas, a supporter of the idea of reaching Palestinian statehood through U.S.-led negotiations with Israel. In siding with Israel on Jerusalem, he has said, the Trump administration
In Jordan’s capital, Amman, thousands of people marched through the center of town, chanting “America is the head of the snake.”
effectively disqualified itself as a mediator.
More than two decades of intermittent Israeli-Palestinian negotiations have failed to bring the Palestinians closer to statehood. Some in Abbas’ inner circle say the old paradigm, with the U.S. serving as mediator, is no longer relevant.
On Thursday, a senior Fatah official said the Palestinians would not receive Vice President Mike Pence when he visits the West Bank later this month, but it was not immediately clear if the official spoke for Abbas.
The Arab League, an umbrella group of close to two dozen states, is to meet today to try to forge a joint position, followed next week by a gathering in Turkey of the 57-state Organization of Islamic Cooperation.