Trump’s Plan to Shift US Embassy to Jerusalem is Counter Productive

Posted by AsiaViews | Dec 10, 2017 | 0 |

The Hindustan Times

6 Dec 2017

Shifting the US embassy to Jerusalem is bad for West Asian stability, and legitimizes Israel’s unlawful settlements in East Jerusalem

United States President Donald Trump claims to be a shrewd businessman, and believes that “…it’s time America was run like a business”. But not everyone is reassured by his self-proclaimed “business acumen”. If creating tension and uncertainty is his way of doing business, Mr Trump’s doing a good job.

On Monday, the US president missed his second deadline to sign a waiver to the controversial 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Act, heightening speculation that he will soon announce his intention to shift the US embassy to Jerusalem from its current location in Tel Aviv. The 1995 US law requires the US embassy be shifted to Jerusalem unless the president signs a waiver every six months. All US presidents since then have signed the waiver; Mr Trump last signed it in June, which was seen as being against his campaign promise.

If Mr Trump goes ahead with his plan, it will perhaps be the most significant step in the recent past to upset the fragile peace process, a process that has a highly sensitive trip switch. News reports suggest that White House officials have reservations about the move and it has been opposed by US allies and Arab nations. Jordan, the custodian of Islam’s holy sites in Jerusalem, has warned against such a move; and so have Saudi Arabia and France. But these are unlikely to figure in Mr Trump’s calculus.

The dangers in Mr Trump’ s plans for shifting are many. Most importantly, it legitimizes the whole of Jerusalem as belonging to Israel, which is not the case as Palestine’s claim to East Jerusalem is yet to be settled. Since 1967, Israel has built dozens of settlements in East Jerusalem, all illegal according to international law, and a shift to Jerusalem would legitimize this.

Diplomatically, for Washington, it is a hare-brained idea because it takes away a chip from the US’ negotiating table with both Israel and Palestine. In other words, it weakens the prospects of a peace deal and erodes US’ clout in West Asia.

However, there is a sliver of hope that he might not go ahead with the shift, because Mr Trump is yet to deliver on any of his promises on ‘resolving’ the Israel-Palestine conflict.

West Asia is yet to recover from the effects of Islamic State’s terror, and is seeing heightened Saudi Arabia-Iran tensions which are pulling many nations into its vortex. Destabilizing the delicate peace in Jerusalem is the last thing the world needs now.

(http://www.hindustantimes.com/editorials/trump-s-plan-to-shift-us-embassy-to-jerusalem-is-counterproductive/story-Zxz0j4czAqL6UtfQuYLG6I.html)

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EXTRICATING NDONESIAN CHILDREN FROM ISIS INFLUENCE ABROAD

Indonesia urgently needs to revisit the possibility of repatriating the neediest of its young citizens stranded abroad, whose families had earlier joined ISIS. Most of these children are in camps in northern Syria but there are also small numbers in the Philippines, Afghanistan and Iraq. “Extricating Indonesian Children from ISIS Influence Abroad”, the latest report from the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) argues that the government could begin by bringing back small groups of unaccompanied children under ten years of age, who pose minimal security risk and are most vulnerable to deteriorating conditions in the camps.“The problem is that health and security conditions are worsening by the day in the Syrian camps, and the children are growing older,” says Dyah Kartika, IPAC analyst. “They need access to schools, a nurturing environment, and medical attention. If the government waits too long, the children will be further exposed to ISIS ideology.” The new report examines a 2019 list of Indonesians in camps and prisons run by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The Indonesian government has been trying to verify their citizenship, but with pseudonyms, misspellings and bad transliterations, it is a daunting task. At the time the data was collected, between March and June 2019, there were 555 Indonesians in SDF camps and prisons, including 367 children. Among the children, approximately 277 were under the age of ten and 34 were unaccompanied. In June 2021, there are fewer than ten children who are both unaccompanied and under the age of ten that could be prioritized for return. Bringing back children of ISIS families is no easy task. The report analyses the main challenges faced by the Indonesian government. These include definitional issues, bureaucratic competition, the difficulty of verifying nationality, evaluating the toll of exposure to conflict, assessing security risk, and finding relatives or others willing to provide care once the children are returned. In addition, COVID has meant stringent restrictions on travel, placing further obstacles in the way of repatriation. There are several models for rehabilitation of children exposed to violent extremism in Indonesia that could be modified to accommodate the needs of children repatriated from abroad. The report examines these models and argues that the government does not need to have every detail of rehabilitation programs in place before it starts extricating children from ISIS influence. It can start by bringing back the most vulnerable children and then modify programs as needed.

“It’s important that the government see these children as victims” says Dyah. “They deserve a chance to be children again.”

Trump’s Plan to Shift US Embassy to Jerusalem is Counter Productive