Allenby Barracks in Jerusalem’s Talpiot neighborhood presently leased by Israel to the U.S. for $1 per year for 99 years.
NOTE: I will be doing a Reddit AMA (Q&A) in r/Palestine this Wednesday at 11am Pacific time. Join the discussion.
Ah, to be in the Land of Trump, where nothing is as it seems. And what something seems means virtually nothing.
For a reason known only to the Mind of Trump, he announced last Friday that he would tell the world on Wednesday that the U.S. would relocate its embassy to Jerusalem and henceforth recognize the holy city as the capital of Israel.
If he released this policy announcement as a way to test the waters, it went over like a lead balloon. The Israelis, who had to be immensely pleased that Trump was giving them a free holiday gift, were silent. Probably deliberately so. Their approbation would be the kiss of death for the Arab world.
But by Saturday, the Palestinians made known that they had complained vehemently to just about anyone who would listen what a shaft the deal was. Abbas also revealed the blackmail attempted by Crown Prince bin Salman, which even involved the offer of a personal bribe to Abbas himself. Ouch!
Then earlier today, an apparently chastened Saudi Arabia denounced the Jerusalem plan. France’s Pres. Macron also added the Euro-coup de grace, saying the Trump notion was ill-advised. The French way of saying “yer out of yur friggin’ mind!”
Even Trump’s national security advisor, H.R. McMaster, purported not to have a clue what Trump would say on Wednesday. I thought to myself: either this is a smart marketing ploy to drum up excitement; or it’s f*&kin’ scary that even Trump’s most senior security official hasn’t a clue what the boss is thinking. Turns out, it appears it was the latter.
Which leads to the question: what was he thinking? Of course he wasn’t thinking. Just like he “thinks” with his gonads regarding women, he thinks with his mouth regarding politics.
An old Mose Allison lyric says: “your mind is on vacation and your mouth is working overtime.” That’s Donald Trump.
So he has not just shot himself in the foot regarding the Jerusalem proposal, by backing off it. He’s also done perhaps irreparable damage to his overall, and much touted, Israel-Palestine peace plan. Who will believe a word of it? Who will believe that at the first hint of opposition he won’t renounce it?
Add to the mix, the catastrophic news that Michael Flynn had turn state’s evidence against his erstwhile comrades in arms in the Trump administration; and that the charges to which he pled guilty involved sabotaging U.S. foreign policy opposing Israeli settlements; and that the next domino to fall might be Jared Kushner himself…well, you can see where this is going. Jared is charged with shepherding the peace agreement to final approval. If he’s under a legal cloud or even indicted, both he and the peace deal will be dead meat.
And even if this ill-conceived peace proposal sinks into the dustbin of the history of failed Middle East peace plans, all we’ve done is prevented a major disaster. The minor disaster of having no modus vivendi in place to guide Israeli-Palestinian affairs, remains in place. Which means that more wars are in store. And many more thousands of Israeli Jews, Arabs and Muslims must die. It’s a fact of life. A dirty, senseless fact of life.
And if Trump does, against all odds, move forward with a plan to move the embassy to Jerusalem there are two options. The U.S. could expand an existing U.S. consulate in West Jerusalem; or it could build a new embassy on land leased by the State of Israel to the U.S. government in 1989 expressly for this purpose. However, this plot (see picture above) located in the historic Talpiot neighborhood is heavily contested. Palestinians contend that the land was confiscated from 1948 refugees driven from the city. At least one plot on the property belonged/belongs to the Islamic Waqf. None of these parties has sold or waived their interest in their land. I imagine that this rubble strewn, abandoned lot is pretty much what Trump’s current Middle East policy look like…
“And many more thousands of Israeli Jews, Arabs and Muslims must die. It’s a fact of life.”
Most car accidents occur in intersections, and Israel is located at a major intersection connecting Europe, Africa and Asia. There cannot be Peace here, and now, the ‘other regional power, Iran, is on Israel’s doorstep, and Iran wants peace between Arabs and Jews less than anyone. It doesn’t fit into her ‘divide and conquer’ strategy.
@ Zionauts: I don’t appreciate your imposing your cynicism on us. Especially since you never offer any actual credible support for your unfounded opinions. But yes, of course there can be no peace because of cynics like you & those running the Israeli government who don’t want peace except on their terms.
As for Iran, it certainly wants peace in the region. But if Israel & the Saudis want war, it’s prepared for that as well. And they (Saudi/Israel) certainly do want war.
YOu & your priorities and understanding of the region are a complete bollocks.
‘those running the Israeli government who don’t want peace except on their terms.’
I’ll differ with that one as well, Richard. Israel doesn’t want peace on ANY terms.
Nothing makes for internal unity like an external enemy — and absent an external enemy Israel has no real internal unity. This may come as a shocker; but Yemeni Jews don’t share much with German Jews.
There simply isn’t enough there for Israel to have a valid national identity absent an enemy at the gates; the various groups making it up won’t even send their children to the same schools.
So we get endless war — and it sometimes visibly comes as a response to internal strife. Israel is unique among nations: she has attacked every single one of her neighbors, and two of them twice.
You may recall the clearest illustration of how this lack of internal unity drives external aggression. Remember those protests about housing a decade or so back? Remember how they ended? Uh huh. There was an oddly successful ‘terrorist attack’ that happened over a hundred miles from Gaza but was immediately blamed on Hamas. Everyone to the ramparts, and nice little mini-Cast Lead was held. One hundred and fifty or so Palestinians murdered, and Israel’s woes were bathed in blood. No more protests.
‘Most car accidents occur in intersections, and Israel is located at a major intersection connecting Europe, Africa and Asia. ‘
Witness Jordan: it too, is in this same intersection, and it, too, has attacked every state bordering on it.
Except it hasn’t. Israel’s special, and it’s not because it’s where it is. Still less is it because of Iran.
[Comment deleted: off topic. If I wanted this blog to dissect anti-Semitism that would be its theme. Except it isn’t. you’re not going to make it your theme. If you want to pontificate about anti Semitism find somewhere else to do it.
You don’t know how to stay on topic despite repeated reminders that it is an important comment rule here. Your next step is banning if you can’t respect the rules.
I don’t think Trump will do this given the repercussions that will be sure to follow. for Israel. BUT he will be able to say to his base, and others who voted on this issue(like my relatives), that he tried. Trump will pay the price for that as well. Any claim of the US being an honest broker was a farce, but with this administration’s lack of credibility or trustworthiness where the buck stops, we should not waste our time even getting hopeful. The Saudi’s were ready to betray the Palestinians apparently, but seem to have remembered their peace plan a few minutes after.
‘…we should not waste our time even getting hopeful…’
You’re perhaps a tad slow, but it’s good that you’ve finally caught on. No ‘Middle East Peace Plan’ offered up in the last twenty years has been seriously intended. Everyone feels obliged to gather round and look pious, but failure is a given, and the only interesting bit is watching everyone try to pin the blame for the failure on the Palestinians while they duck and weave. Sort of a version of ‘whack a mole’ for international diplomacy, only with real, live moles.
Condescending Colin…. been a fan of Henry Seigman’s POV for years.
‘Condescending Colin…. been a fan of Henry Seigman’s POV for years.’
Yeah, it was an unfair shot at you. It’s just that I get so tired of this routine where we all proceed as if Israel actually wants peace. Sure, you can get Israel to agree to peace. Just threaten to pull the plug, and if she believes you’ll do it, she’ll sign. However, absent the will to make that threat, there’s no point in bothering.
If there’s to be peace, there’s no point in negotiating with Israel. TELL her what the terms are. Then turn off the lights until she physically complies with them.
I did not say or even intimate that.
Condescending Colin…. I have been a fan of Henry Siegman’s take on the peace process for years.
Can’t go along with this bit:
‘…So he has not just shot himself in the foot regarding the Jerusalem proposal, by backing off it. He’s also done perhaps irreparable damage to his overall, and much touted, Israel-Palestine peace plan. Who will believe a word of it? Who will believe that at the first hint of opposition he won’t renounce it?’
Ahem. ‘Shot himself in the foot’? I don’t think so. More like, ‘hold me back, guys.’ He’s told the Israelis ‘hey: I’d like to.’ He’s reassured the Evangelicals that he’s a good partner, if not exactly born-again himself. Now, if others make him stop, oh well. This is a play — and I would say quite a good one — to definitively gain the support of the Israel lobby.
…and as we’ll all learned, that lobby is quite powerful. Say hello to Donald Trump: two-term president.
As to the ‘Peace Plan’ and ‘who will believe a word of it?’ Who ever did? Please. Having a ‘Middle East Peace Plan’ has become like pardoning the Thanksgiving Turkey. Every president has to do it. If anything, best to launch it, watch it founder, and express one’s regrets early.
Why does everybody here await with glee a possible violent reaction? Is it justified that a diplomatic move by the US will be answered with Palestinian violence against Israelis? In which moral universe do you live in?
@ Yehuda: “Glee?” Are you mad? Who thinks that mounds of bodies are something to celebrate? It’s a tragedy. But a tragedy solely of your making along with your comrade settlers & Likudists.
You are totally disingenous if you think such incitement and expressions of disdain by the U.S. & Israel will be welcomed with anything other than anger & violence by Arabs & Muslims.
Of course it would be in your interest for all of them to acquiesce and go quietly in the face of this outrage. That’s what you’d like: nice quiet obedient Arabs, accepting their emasculation with equanimity.
This will end repeating the Berlin mistake.
I can´ t help ro repeat what I tried but failed to get widespread in German reunification:
Civilized nation states have different places as Capital and government center.
The Netherland has Amsterdam as “hovedstad” but its center of government is S´chrevenhage, or Den Haag.
Brasil has Rio De Janeiro as Capital, but the center of government is Brasilia (artificially constructed in the 20th century)
Germany would have been better off calling Berlin “Hauptstadt” but keeping little Bonn with all the buildings of bureacracy and government.
So, call Jerusalem Capital as much as anyone wants, but anyone with a thought in the head should try to keep all aspects of government in Tel Aviv.
Sorry to be so pessimistic, this is just one small item where the 21st century will be as bad as the 20th.
‘This will end repeating the Berlin mistake..’
This omits one distinction. Berlin lies in Germany, Amsterdam lies in Holland, and Brasilia indubitably lies in Brazil.
Jerusalem does not lie in Israel. Look up the 1947 UN Partition borders, which Israel accepted.
Now, if Poland claimed Berlin as her capital, or Belgium seized Amsterdam and made that HER capital — and these acts of aggression had been recognized by the international community — you’d have a point.
Arab response to Trump declaration, muted, to say the least.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/06/world/middleeast/arabs-jerusalem-trump.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=b-lede-package-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
@ Zionauts: I read that story. While I have generally thought well of Anne Barnard’s writing on Lebanon, this article was cynical and ultimately wrong headed. It confused the spineless betrayal of Arab dictators like al Sisi, bin Salman, & Abdullah as representative of the entire Arab world. They aren’t, though you & BIbi would like them to be. A fatal mistake.
Not to mention that scores of media articles are noting protests in Turkey, Jordan and elsewhere. Pakistan has called for the Muslim world to develop a coordinated response to this insult to Islam. Palestinians are protesting en masse in Jerusalem.
Portraying the reception to this act as being “muted” are premature.
‘Arab response to Trump declaration, muted, to say the least.’
They can’t win, can they? If the reactions don’t produce quantities of dead bodies, it’ll be ‘see? They don’t mind.’
If, on the other hand, we do get a dozen dead or so, it’ll be more proof that the Arab is incorrigible, and of course we shouldn’t give way to violence.
Some of us have watched, and we’ve SEEN. Every attempt at using legal channels and non-violent protest is simply stonewalled by Israel and her minions and ignored. Every outbreak of violence becomes ‘terrorism,’ and of course one mustn’t yield to terrorism.
@Colin
They could ‘win’ buy accepting a peace deal along the ’67 borders. Remember how the Zionists accepted the 1947 Partition Plan, and it was the Arabs who refused peace.
@ Zionauts: So you mean the Israelis HAVE accepted a peace deal along 67 borders and Palestinians haven’t?? Are you living in bizarro world? Palestinians have long accepted 67 borders. It’s your guys who reject it. So take it up with your side. They’re the problem.
This would have come from the Evangelicals in his administration