Trump’s decision on Jerusalem urges fire of Near East conflict - COMMENT

Baku. 7 December. REPORT.AZ/ Though we don’t know where the starting point of Earth is, it is known that Jerusalem is the place where world’s interests and cultures cross as well as contradictions happen.

It has been so at least from October of 1096, when the First Crusade started and has been continuing for 981 years. During 1096-1270 years there were eight such Crusades with participation of Dutch, English, French and others.

But today the number of forces that lead the open war for Jerusalem diminished.

It has been 70 years since the center of Abrahamic religion become the issue of political conflict between Palestinian Arabs and Israeli Jews.

Yesterday US President Donald Trump announced that he officially recognizes Jerusalem as capital of Israel. This statement has exasperated the relations not only between two sides but also the situation in Near East become more complicated. Though US Congress recognized the Jerusalem as part of Israel in 1995, none of previous presidents confirmed the decision so far. Announcing the Jerusalem as capital of Jewish state Donald Trump said:

“I am also directing the State Department to begin preparation to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Jerusalem is not just the heart of three great religions, but it is now also the heart of one of the most successful democracies in the world. Over the past seven decades, the Israeli people have built a country where Jews, Muslims, and Christians - and people of all faiths - are free to live and worship according to their conscience and according to their beliefs.

He said USA is loyal to obligations to reach peace between Israel and the Palestinians and promised to do everything to achieve that.

Arabic and Muslim countries said controversial decision of Donald Trump will de-escalate the situation in the region and completely destroyed the chances to reach peace agreement between Israel and Palestine. As a protest to his statement, Palestinians have called for three days of rage. The head of Palestinian state and leader of FATAH Party Mahmud Abbas also reacted over Trump’s statement: “The U.S. can no longer function as a diplomatic sponsor and peace mediator.”

In 2014, Mahmud Abbas suggested to announce Jerusalem the capital of two states.

The phrase “East is a wispy matter” mentioned in the Soviet film “Under the hot sky” can be more related to Jerusalem. Because the status of Jerusalem has been the topic of hot discussions for over 70 years. Both Israel and Palestine consider Jerusalem as their city. De-facto majority of Palestinian are deprived of the rights to visit this city. Israeli sovereignty over Eastern Jerusalem has not been recognized by UN and most countries. Israel announced the Jerusalem as its capital in 1949., Israel also occupied the Western Jerusalem on June 5,1967. In 1980 Israel annexed the Western and Eastern parts of the city and announced it the capital of Jewish state. However, UN Security Council Resolution 478, adopted in 1980 condemned this decision of Israel. Therefore, Israel’s sovereignty over Western part of Jerusalem and capital status of the city have not been recognized by most of the World Community countries.

USA also admitted the occupation of Western Jerusalem by Israel until December 6, 2017. With Donald Trump’s decision USA becomes the first county to recognize the Jerusalem as capital of Israeli. Jerusalem is considered the sacred place both for Muslims, and Christians also for Jewish people.

There are sacred temples of Islam, Christianity and Judaism in the Old City. Al-Aqsa Mosque is the first qibla of Muslim and third holiest site in Islam after Macca and Medina. For Christians Jerusalem is a city where Jesus prophet spent the last days of his life. It is a site where Jesus secretly met with his disciples, crucified and resurrected. 

For Jews it is a site where prophet Abraham sacrificed his son (Samuel) Ismail, where the Temple of prophet Suleyman (Solomon), became one of the key houses of worship, where prophet David become famous. That is why for these and other reasons, there were reactions over Trump’s announcement.

German chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany does not support the opinion of USA: “The status of Jerusalem can only be negotiated within the framework of a two-state solution.”

French president Emmanuel Macron also criticized Trump’s decision: “This decision is a regrettable decision that France does not approve of and goes against international law and all the resolutions of the UN Security Council.”

British Prime Minister Theresa May said she did not agree with the US president's decision, which would not lead to a settlement of the conflict in the region.

Chinese Foreign Minister also protested US President's decision.

The EU High Representative for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Federica Mogherini, expressed concern that the decision would have serious consequences.

Chairman of the Russian Federation Council for International Affairs Konstantin Kosachev said that the US president's decision meant a gross violation of two state principles.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan (MFA) also commented on the issue: "Azerbaijan supports peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Azerbaijan stands for the two state solution of this issue with East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine. We call on all parties involved to comply with relevant UN Security Council resolutions".

By the way, in recent years, international mediators support the settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by the principle of "two states, two nations". On December 7, the UN Security Council and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation will hold a meeting to discuss decision of U.S.

Even Jerusalem can cause tension between the United States and the European Union. Because until now, the Alliance remains in the shadow of the United States in a number of issues and supports it. In view of the Trump's decision, the European Union intends to demonstrate that it does not want to remain in this position. Otherwise, the current White House did not agree with allies, including the European Union on that decision. Such a situation could damage policy of U.S. support for the Middle East. However, Washington does not seem to be serious in taking such a risk. Therefore, agreement between the United States and EU on the issue is possible. It is possible to conclude that the outputs and relations of Europeans are agreed role of the parties.

At the same time, the issue of Jerusalem can be considered as special message for Azerbaijan. Because, Nagorno-Karabakh and its surrounding regions have been occupied by Armenia for more than 25 years. Unfortunately, this occupation is still called as conflict by international mediators. One of the international mediators who wants to settle conflict is the United States. The states and powers that parties believe and trust mediate in resolving conflicts.

The issue is fairly solved as a result of the decision taken by both sides of the mission. However, the international mediation of the United States was shattered in the issue of Jerusalem.

In other words, it is skeptical that the US will consider international documents in resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, including UN Security Council resolutions and territorial integrity in international law. Until now, US officials have not said that Armenia is invader, but they recognize the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, including Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts. The main principle of this conflict settlement is the territorial integrity. However, international mediators have been unable to implement this principle for 25 years.Today, the US is a leader in world with its dollar. That is the reason for all this. There is also conviction that this state will make more fair decisions as it is considered to be democratic. It is believed that the US is the leader in all world politics, which does not conform to the traditional saying " if you are strong, then you are right". The country tries to prove that righteousness of this country does not depend on military power and so on. It is claimed that US power comes from its democracy. Citizens believe in democracy in US. However, decision on Jerusalem has confirmed doubts about fair position of US in resolving conflicts. Even though we do not want to believe, it only shows that the process, which started 981 years ago, is in progress.