Two Saudi journalists and a Kuwaiti have called on US President Donald Trump to move his embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. All three journalists also make clear that the 'Palestinians' are no longer at the head of the Arab world's agenda.
In a January 25, 2017 article in the London-based daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, prominent Saudi journalist 'Abd Al-Rahman Al-Rashed, the daily's former editor and the former director of Al-Arabiya TV, discussed the issue of the U.S. moving its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. He stated that the Israeli sovereignty over West Jerusalem is a settled matter, and that moving the U.S. embassy there, or any other embassy, would not lend legitimacy to the occupation. Rather, if U.S. President Donald Trump moved the embassy to Jerusalem as part of an overall peace agreement, this measure could actually mark the end of the occupation and the conflict.
Al-Rashed also noted that, in the 2000 Camp David talks, Yasser Arafat sadly missed an opportunity to restore East Jerusalem to the Palestinians as part of then-U.S. president Bill Clinton's unprecedented proposal for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He added that today, due to the crises plaguing the Middle East, "the Palestinian cause is no longer central," although extremists exploit the Palestinian tragedy to further their own interests.
It should be noted that one day before Al-Rashed's article was published, Saudi columnist Muhammad Aal Al-Sheikh published an article in the official Saudi daily Al-Jazirah titled "The Palestinians Have No [Choice] But Peace." Like Al-Rashed, he argued that the Arab world, currently preoccupied with civil wars and with fighting home-grown terrorism, no longer regards the Palestinian cause as its foremost concern, and called on the Palestinians to forgo armed resistance and embrace the two-state solution – for that is the only solution that is feasible and supported by the international community.[1]
Satloff's piece is here. While it makes reference to 'west' Jerusalem, the facility in which the US consulate is currently located (pictured above) is practically on the line, although the US government likes to characterize it as 'west' Jerusalem, and it still serves (at least for now) as the US embassy to 'Palestine.'Kuwaiti journalist 'Abdallah Al-Hadlaq also expressed support for relocating the embassy, in a January 28, 2017 article in the Al-Watan daily titled "Be Brave [Trump] – Move [The Embassy] to Jerusalem and Trust in God." Quoting extensively from an article by Robert Satloff, executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, which presents arguments in favor of the embassy move,[2] Al-Hadlaq argued the move could involve extensive benefits and not only dangers and drawbacks. He concluded by saying: "Wise and intelligent diplomats, politicians and pundits are telling Trump, who is reluctant to move the embassy to Jerusalem: 'Be brave, move it to Jerusalem and trust in God."[3]
OT: A culturally sensitive calendar for the 2017-18 school year was approved by the Southampton Board of Education
ReplyDelete"All six of the board members who were at the meeting, minus Heather McCallion, agreed with Mr. McKenna and Mr. Brindle, and decided to modify the calendar to show Rosh Hashanah as “No School," before voting to approve it."
http://www.27east.com/news/article.cfm/Southampton-Village-Surrounding-Areas/509682/Southampton-School-Board-Approves-Culturally-Sensitive-Calendar-For-2017-18-School-Year