The Star
17 Dec 2017
The move by President Donald Trump to go ahead with the sensitive issue of pushing the agenda to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital has brought about an overwhelming sense of unity against the leader of the world’s superpower.
Trump, by championing a move of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in the future, has senselessly provoked the Muslim world and sparked vehement protest from non-Muslim countries and communities who have joined the fray in opposing only because they want to see peace in the Middle East.
In a single stroke, his statement last week on the matter has united the Muslim world against him, including his closest allies in the Middle East such as Saudi Arabia.
It looks like there are only two countries who are in favor of Jerusalem being recognized as a capital city – the US and Israel itself.
The united front against the US is not only evident in the international platform. Locally, politicians and political parties from all fronts are also against the initiative that is supposed to take place in the future.
The single most important determinant to stand against the United States in this matter is not for religious purposes or to take sides in the long-standing conflict in the Middle East between Israel and the rest of the Arab world.
It is to contribute to a peace process in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world such as South-East Asia. It is to avert another potential humanitarian crisis should the Jerusalem issue escalate into a full-scale conflict.
Already the world is witnessing senseless acts of terrorism in the name of religion. We don’t need fresh issues to aggravate matters.
Critics argue that fears of the Jerusalem issue sparking another wave of terrorism is over-blown.
They claim that the threats from Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have been prevalent even without the issue of Jerusalem’s recognition being brought to the fore.
The argument is that both these terror groups would continue to exist with or without the Jerusalem issue.
It is too simplistic a view.
One must understand that terrorism is driven by emotions and beliefs. For instance, most individuals are driven to commit acts of terrorism due to their beliefs. It is not for the greed of money.
In this respect, the fewer reasons given for the rise of terror, the better it is. The Jerusalem issue gives rise to one more reason to provoke acts of extremism and terrorism.
Any political party in the right sense of mind should oppose it, irrespective of its alignment in the Israel-Palestine conflict. It is a matter that needs a united response by all from all races and religious beliefs.
Towards this end, members of the ruling Barisan Nasional will stand together with PAS to protest against this issue.
It is only for a just cause – to fight for what is right and with the view that it would minimize security threats to this part of the world.
To understand the thorny issue of Jerusalem, one must appreciate the dynamics of the Middle East conflict. Jerusalem has been the center of a peace-making effort in the Middle East ever since the partition in 1947.
The sensitivities surrounding the status of holy city that is claimed by all – Jews, Muslims and Christians – led to the United Nations to treat it initially as a separate entity from the Jewish state.
But Israel has always claimed Jerusalem as its capital, although no country has, until now, recognized it as such. Although the US Congress in 1955 allowed for an embassy to be set up in Jerusalem, previous presidents never honoured it, taking cognizance of the sentiments on the ground.
To recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel would be tantamount to eclipsing the hopes of Palestine claiming its own capital in the now-occupied east Jerusalem.
It would tear up an already fragile peace process struck in Oslo in 1993 where it was decided that the final status of Jerusalem would be decided and settled through negotiations.
Malaysia is a small part of a global united front against the antics of one person called Donald Trump.
However, a voice in unison would register its protest that the country as a whole stands for matters that are fair and right, irrespective of religious beliefs.
