The Washington Post comment, “Trump’s announcement recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and ordering that the embassy be moved broke decades of U.S policy,” is one way of looking at it – the Palestinian way. Another way of looking at it is that the United States finally did what they said they would do: move the US embassy to Jerusalem instead of kicking the can down the road on a technicality.
Yes, the Palestinians say they want the capital of a future Palestinian state in Jerusalem – they have a said a lot of things – but facts matter. Jerusalem has been the working capital of Israel for almost 70 years while Ramallah has been the been the center of a fragmented Palestinian movement for a few decades. The yearning for Jerusalem by Jews has been spoken of hundreds of times in the Jewish bible and was the capital of the Jews in ancient times. Jerusalem, by name, is not mentioned once in the Koran (but by interpretation) and has never been the capital of an Arab state. The yearning of the Arabs for Jerusalem began after the Jews reacquired it in 1967.
The US decision doesn’t prevent the Palestinians from having a state. Their failure to sit down and negotiate is what is stopping them (oh, and demanding everything and refusing to compromise on anything). The Post has also remarked that the US declaration of the embassy move would cause rioting in the streets of Arab capitals and by Palestinians. Wrong again. And why should that stop the United States from doing what is right – and real!
The Post article ended by saying that the UN General Assembly has voted in “favor of a nonbinding resolution rejecting recognition of Jerusalem.” If the world needed to see what a farce the UN is, this is a perfect example. The United States is a sovereign nation and can recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and anything else it wants to recognize for that matter. It is not subject to a vote. Moreover, it is surprising that the Post doesn’t include a disclaimer, when it often does about Israel, that the UN General Assembly has enacted more resolutions against tiny Israel than the worst offenders of human rights (including those that commit genocide and sponsor international terrorism) combined (I.e. Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, Burma, China, etc). Nothing the UN says or does regarding Israel is objective. Let’s pull up the curtain that has hidden this obvious farce called the UN- and report honestly! And no need to find fault in the US administration embassy move. It’s commendable when an administration actually does what it (and the last several Presidents) said they would do.
Dr. Michael Berenhaus is a contributor to the news and public policy group, Haym Salomon Center. Along with co-founding organizations that have monitored media coverage, he has been published in publications such as The Economist, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of The Daily Caller.