Politics

خطوات ترمب وسلام الشرق الاوسط

Dec 7, 2017 Daoud Kuttab

القدس- في غضون ثلاثة أسابيع قامت الولايات المتحدة بالهجوم غير المسبوق على الشعب الفلسطيني من خلال ثلاثة محاور. أولاً قام وزير الخارجية الأمريكي ريكس تيلرسون في 17 نوفمبر/تشرين ثاني الماضي بالامتناع عن تجديد ترخيص مكاتب منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية والذي وفر لدبلوماسيي فلسطين العمل في العاصمة الأمريكية منذ التوقيع على اتفاق أوسلو. وفي الخامس من ديسمبر كانون أول قام مجلس النواب الأمريكي بإقرار قانون تيلور فورس والذي يفرض على السلطة التشريعية التوقف عن دعم السلطة الفلسطينية للسنوات 2018-2024 إلّاإاذا قامت الأخيرة بالتوقف عن دفع مخصصات الأسرى والشهداء إلى أهاليهم. وفي الهجوم الثالث والذي جاء بعد يوم واحد من قرار الكونغرس فقد تم تدمير أي محاولات لتحقيق السلام.

ففي خطوة عارضها العالم بأكمله وفي مخالفة واضحة لقرارت الهيئة العامة للأمم المتحدة ومجلس الأمن قامت الولايات المتحدة ممثله برئيسها بالإعلان عن القدس عاصمة لإسرائيل. الرسالة كانت واضحة: إن إدارة ترامب مصممة أن تفرض الرؤية الإسرائيلية للسلام مع الفلسطينيين بدل من التفاوض لحل مقبول من الطرفين.

طبعاً لم يتم عرض القرار الأمريكي من قبل البيت الأبيض بهذا الأسلوب. فكما نشرت صحيفة النيويورك تايمز الأمريكية، إن مسؤولين من إدارة ترامب يعتقدون أن قرار نقل السفارة الأمريكية إلى القدس قد يسرّع عملية السلام "لأنها ستسحب أحد مصادر الغموض في الموقف الأمريكي" حيث أن الرئيس مجبر للتوقيع كل ستة أشهر على قرار تأجيل نقل السفارة وهو أمر -حسب رأيهم - يزيد من التوتر السياسي.

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0 Comments on this paragraph, 23 Comments on this article

Jaap Bosma Dec 17, 2017

What a cowardly analysis! It never mentions Palestinian rights. According to international law East-Jerusalem is Palestinian.
Haass also doesn't mention the influence of Trumps biggest donor: Sheldon Adelson, an arch-Zionist. He also doesn't mention that Kushner is involved in settlement expansion.
American policy has always been disgustingly pro-Israel. Nothing changed there, it's only come more into the open. What does change is that the two-state-solution has become more unlikely, and the only fight left for Palestinians is that for full equality between Jews and Palestinians.
- Jaap Bosma Dec 17, 2017
  
  This comment should be at the article by Richatd Haase, not here
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j. von Hettlingen Dec 10, 2017

Daoud Kuttab doesn't believe in Trump's sincerity of brokering peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Instead Trump has undermined America’s international credibility and ability to secure peace and stability. Rex Tillerson was given the cold shoulder during his week in Europe. Mike Pence can forget his trip to the West Bank, as Mahmoud Abbas has no desire to meet him
But this erosion of America's authority in the Middle East has Trump's nepotism to thank for. Instead of letting Tillerson hire competent diplomats and foreign policy wonks to deal with their counterparts in the region, he relies solely on his son-in-law, Jared Kushner to sort things out and entrusts him with the monumental task of drafting a peace plan. Apart from hubris, the 36-year-old is a greenhorn in geopolitics and lacks political acumen.
Trump is wrong to believe that Kushner will succeed, where all others before him had failed. As an observant Jew and co-director of a foundation that raised money for Israeli settlements, considered illegal under international law, Kushner is biased, eager to take Israel's side. He is said to have told Michael Flynn last December to sabotage a UN resolution that condemned Israeli settlements. The latter called Russia, which is a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
In his role as Trump's special envoy, Kushner conducts shuttle diplomacy, travelling back and forth between Israel and Saudi Arabia - two antagonists that share the same ambition to rein in Iran's influence in the region. He has capitalised on the Saudi obsession with Iran and forged an alliance with his new-found friend, the 32-year-old Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), who is ambitious, inexperienced and impatient.
There is little doubt that Kushner doesn't have the Saudi blessing in his Greater Israel project, which should lead to an “ultimate deal.” with the Palestinians. The question is what MBS can offer the Palestinians and Israel. Netanyahu is pleased with Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, but he would most unlikely do Saudi Arabia's bidding - to wage a war against the Hezbollah, hoping to draw Iran into the conflict.
Trump visited Saudi Arabia in May and sided with the Kingdom to gang up on Iran. He sold arms worth $110 billion and was given a royal welcome. Perhaps he thinks that "his current honeymoon with Saudi Arabia will allow him to escape pushback from Arab leaders. But MBS is facing too much opposition to his own reforms to side openly with Israel on so emotive an issue as Jerusalem."
The personal alliance between Kushner and MBS has particularly irked Tillerson. Kushner reportedly leaves the state department completely out of his Middle East plans. What frustrates officials in the region is that there is no US ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Morocco, Egypt etc. nor an assistant secretary for Near Eastern affairs, a chief strategic post to establish US policy in the region. This makes Kushner Trump's point man.
That Kushner and Netanyahu seek to "ram a solution down Palestinians’ throats," earning global condemnation, even within Israel itself, does not bother Kushner, who is ready to walk over dead bodies to achieve his goals. Henry Kissenger was right about comparing Kushner to Icarus - eager to fly high, and close to the sun, meeting the same fate as his Greek mythological peer. A peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians will certainly not materialise as long as Kushner, Trump and Netanyahu are in charge, increasing the "likelihood of even more violence, not peace."
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Braden-Plorable Braden-Plorable Dec 9, 2017

There is no peace process until the Palestinians will recognize Israel's right to exist.

Once that happens, real negotiations about a two state solution can begin.
So don't try to blame Trump for anything - the Palestinians have been the block to a peaceful solution from Day 1.
- Ted Smith Dec 12, 2017
  
  Have you been asleep since 1988 when the PLO recognised Israel ? Or do you mean some Palestinians don’t recognise Israel just as some Settlers don’t recognise Palestinians as a people let alone a people with legitimate aspirations to self determination ?
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- Rik Rijs Dec 11, 2017
  
  Mutual recognition would be better. There's no peace process as the occupier continues to build settlements and import colonials, thereby proving no interest in peace. Trump disregards UN resolution 478. Israel disregards many others. So, why shouldn't we disregard the UN resolution that created Israel. Let's drop all resolutions and start it all over.
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- Rik Rijs Dec 11, 2017
  
  Mutual recognition would be better. And yes, there's no peace process as long as the occupier continues to build settlement and import colonials, thereby proving no interest in peace. Trump disregards UN resolution 478. Israel disregards many other resolutions. So, why shouldn't we disregard the UN resolution that created Israel. Let's drop all those resolutions and start it all over.
  A new reply to this comment has been posted.
- Rik Rijs Dec 11, 2017
  
  Mutual recognition would be better. And yes, there's no peace process as long as the occupier continues to build settlement and import colonials, thereby proving no interest in peace. Trump disregards UN resolution 478. Israel disregards many other resolutions. So, why shouldn't we disregard the UN resolution that created Israel. Let's drop all those resolutions and start it all over.
  A new reply to this comment has been posted.
- Rik Rijs Dec 11, 2017
  
  Mutual recognition would be better. And yes, there's no peace process as long as the occupier continues to build settlement and import colonials, thereby proving no interest in peace. Trump disregards UN resolution 478. Israel disregards many other resolutions. So, why shouldn't we disregard the UN resolution that created Israel. Let's drop all those resolutions and start it all over.
  A new reply to this comment has been posted.
- Rik Rijs Dec 11, 2017
  
  Mutual recognition would be better. And yes, there's no peace process as long as the occupier continues to build settlement and import colonials, thereby proving no interest in peace. Trump disregards UN resolution 478. Israel disregards many other resolutions. So, why shouldn't we disregard the UN resolution that created Israel. Let's drop all those resolutions and start it all over.
  A new reply to this comment has been posted.
A new reply to this comment has been posted.
lvtaxman Las Vegas Dec 9, 2017

The writer assumes there is a valid peace process. As the Palestinians refuse to remove the destruction of Israel from its charter, there is no starting place for negotiations.

Theoretically, there have been negotiations for Middle East Peace since Israel won the Six Day War in 1967 and the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Even the Begin/Sadat/Carter Nobel Peace Prize was for non-existent peace. Palestinians will always make up reasons to riot, even in this case when it really has to do with America, not Israel.

The Senate voted unanimously in June proclaiming Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel. Trump only did what the past three Presidents promised and the Senate confirmed. It cannot have an effect on a peace process that does not legitimately exist.
- Ted Smith Dec 12, 2017
  
  Have you also been asleep since 1988? Or wilfully malign? There was a peace process since Oslo. It’s now dead and that has nothing to do with your damnd charter
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Bernhard Kopp Dec 8, 2017

The international opposition is not particularly strong, even if many political leaders did say that Trump' confirmation of what has already been in the Jerusalem Act of 1995 is 'unwise'. A possible solution could be as follows: the international community recognises that the Palestinians are most probably not capable to organise any kind of statehood that can produce the framework and governance for a reasonable living of their people. Hence, the pre-67 territories become an 'autonomous province of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan', capital Aman, provincial capital Ramallah. Jerusalem gets a special status, as 'International City of Religions'.
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M M Dec 7, 2017

Trump has been pushing many buttons since he came to office, thankfully none of them triggered any explosion yet until this latest stunt. Anyone that plays with faith is playing with fire. Jerusalem belongs to all faiths and not only to one. It is not a question of Palestinians versus the Israelites and vice versa. There is history, cultures, there are international laws and UN Resolutions that must be respected, and in this specific case they have not been respected and he just added more fuel on already raging fires. Very irresponsible move indeed.
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stephan Edwards Dec 7, 2017

I'm no fan of Trump's didn't vote for him but he merely acknowledging the facts that are rather wished for. 1. Jerusalem is and has been Israels capital for what fifty years. For all of the pretensions and prattling of the Internationalists, what is won by force of arms is usually kept unless the winner chooses to return it. In other words the status of Jerusalem is rendered moot by force of arms. The Israelis won it and they intend to keep it. And for those planning to prattle about international law, I refer you to a Roman statement over 2000 years old "Inter arma enim silent leges" which roughly translated means In times of war the law falls silent". It hasn't changed "International Law" is written and interpreted by the winners to mean what they want it to mean. The Arabs lost life is tough. Live with it and go on. Because it isn't going to change. No one is going to force Israel to give it back no one cares enough.
2. Second Palestine is not and NEVER will be sovereign nation. They are a disenfranchised people no one gives a damn about unless it gains them something. Look at Israeli dispositions and settlements on the West bank and you will soon figure the only deader then the 2 state solution is the dinosaurs. Not going to happen, The Israelis are NOT going do it. The Palestinians, the UN, the Girl guides all can demand all they want unless the Israelis consent it's not going to happen.
3. The Palestinians lost period. They should deal with the facts instead opf their delusions. All Trump is doing is acknowledging the facts instead of the delusions.
- Ted Smith Dec 8, 2017
  
  You could have saved yourself 10 minutes by just writing “might is right”
  - stephan Edwards Dec 8, 2017
    
    I don't recall saying anything about right but might usually gets it's way right or wrong.
    - Ted Smith Dec 8, 2017
      
      Every past US President has avoided this measure along with every major US ally. Only Russia has taken this step. Maybe they are all wrong and Trump / Putin are correct. Or maybe they once read the story of David and Goliath and have some aspirations beyond pleasing their more crazed evangelical supporters. Your position is ethically void and best suited to Moscow circa 1968.
      - stephan Edwards Dec 8, 2017
        
        Anyone who believes ethics has anything to do with international relations and the decisions of nation states isn't paying attention. I didn't say I agreed with the reality that might gets its way pretty much every time. I said that is reality like it or not. The Palestinians had better get a grasp on reality or their position will only get worse it won't get any better. Has for my position being ethically void Ethics are for those that can afford it. I deal in reality not idealistic delusions. I gave up on ethics and idealism when my country sodomized in the name of corporate profits. Ethics are a delusion of the elites and the comfortable middle class not those of us who live in the real world. And the Palestinians should probably get a grasp on reality instead of the delusion they will ever have their own country delusions are not survival positive.
        
        Ted Smith Dec 11, 2017
        
        That’s absurd and inaccurate. Dozens of national and ethnic groups have achieved self-determination in recent history, against much mightier opponents. The Kurds. East Timor. Kosovans. The republics that broke away from the USSR. Without an ethical framework there’d be no UN, indeed no international law. You may have given up but the rest of the world has not yet embraced your philosophy. Your personal bitterness at living in the Great American Plutocracy is hardly a great vantage point for an objective analysis of world events.
        
        Peace may be an intractable problem in the ME but it should not deter decent people from seeking a solution and for outsiders to play a constructive role.
        
        stephan Edwards Dec 11, 2017
        
        Decent people running a country ??????????? Please point them out to me I haven't seen any. You and I will have to agree to disagree. Has for the UN & International Law I think they are both jokes. International Law is what the powerful nations make it. Has the recent ruling against China by the Tribunal (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/12/philippines-wins-south-china-sea-case-against-china ) pretty much proves. The Court made it's decision now let it damn well enforce it to quote I believe Andrew Jackson.
        International law means nothing if it is unenforced and unenforceable.
        
        The UN a body that appoints such sterling Members as Egypt, South Africa, Uganda and somewhat ironically Israel to the Human rights committee. All countries noted for their firm belief in Human Rights you must agree? I would have to say that just those members of "The Human Rights Committee" Pretty much proves beyond all doubt the UN is at best a debating society, more truthfully a very bad joke.
        
        No you and I will have to agree to disagree. Because I don't see any sign of ethics or morality in politics National or International. The saying is true Nice guys finish last usually DEAD last.
        
        Ted Smith Dec 12, 2017
        
        Stephan, when you find an institution (Catholic Church? Nittany Lions? NYPD?)with noble aims and never once tarred with scandal, let me know.
        
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