By recognising the holy city of Jerusalem as capital of Israel, the US President Donald Trump has shaken the world. Most countries, even friends and allies of the US and Israel, have issued categorical statements describing the step as impeding progress for a peaceful resolution of the Middle East and Palestinian problem. From the European Union (EU) to China, the US move was seen as adding to the instability of the already strife-torn region. 

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An Israeli historian Esther Carmel-Hakim said even though in the past many US Presidents had promised to act on this issue during their election campaigns, the Trump move has trumped her country as well. Apprehending that the move would create more insecurities for the Israeli citizens, she was hopeful that since shifting of embassy and other paraphernalia was a time-consuming process, Trump will be out of office by then and the new administration will review its decision.

In 2009, when Barack Obama took over the White House, Middle East was bubbling with hope. But since then the world has gone topsy-turvy. During a visit to the region a few years ago, I could make out a volcano seething beneath the deceptive calm, threatening to consume the world. Neither Palestinians nor Israelis had much faith left in the ‘direct talks’. Besides the high-walls built by Israelis to restrict movements of Palestinians, the hate between two communities, the Jews and Muslims, had also grown to the point of no return. 

To avoid eye contact with Palestinians in the old city of Jerusalem, some hardcore Jews use walkways built on the roof of the covered market, in order to avoid alleys full of Arab shops. Israelis were slowly evicting Arab occupants of old Jerusalem ostensibly to change the demography of the city. In the past 16 years, the number of Jewish settlers living in the occupied territories, including East Jerusalem, has increased by more than 200,000 to about 600,000. The Muslim population in the city of Jerusalem has been reduced to 36 per cent as per 2011 census.

An influential section of Israeli government and Palestine Authority (PA) still recognises a two-state formula based on pre-1967 positions leaving the control of Jerusalem open for negotiations. But the trust deficit between the two communities, PA’s declining political clout, Israelis’ attempts of colonisation and practicing a form of apartheid add road blocks towards a peaceful resolution. “There is a total divorce (disconnect) between Jewish and Muslim communities. They don’t want to live together. 

Earlier, majority of Jews were not in favour of a Palestine state. But now all opinion polls suggest an overwhelming majority supporting separate Jewish and Palestine states,” says Khaled Abu Toameh, the only Arab journalist working for The Jerusalem Post, a Jewish right-wing newspaper. 

International director of American Jewish Council Rabbi David Rosen also agrees that over 70 per cent Israelis are favouring a separate and an independent Palestine as they were threatened by the growth rate of Muslims in the Arab world. “The birth rate of Arab World and Muslim World is way beyond us. We will be eliminated in a short period of time. So, we have urgency to have peaceful resolution than anyone else,” he told this writer. He maintains that the resolution of this conflict would impact Muslim countries’ relations with the West thereby having a salutary effect in Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan as well. But his poser is, whether Israelis can trust Palestinians who are “baying for each other’s blood”. 

On the ticklish issue of Jewish settlements, Rabbi says their extraction from Palestine territory was necessary. “We have to get out of West Bank. There you are in a situation that between the river Jordan and Mediterranean Sea we will be in a minority. The idea of a Jewish state is not going to be viable unless we establish a separate Palestine state,” he said. A top Israeli official confided to the writer a few years ago that Tel Aviv had offered to divide Al-Aqsa compound with Jews praying below the ground and the rest of all vested to Muslims. “We had offered to give its trusteeship to Saudi Arabia, European Union or to the United Nations,” he said.

To add to the woes of Palestinians, now across the world, there seems to be no scope for resistance movements, particularly for those engaged in armed struggles. They are now bracketed with terrorist groups, and there is global hostility against terrorism. 

Leader of Hamas, Khaled Mashal admitted it was a difficult situation. But was pained at the way the world had refused to distinguish between resistance and terrorism. He is at pain to explain that he is representing a national resistance movement, not a terrorist organisation. “We have the right to resist occupation. We have gained legitimacy because of our election victory. We are not random killing machines like terrorists. We are confining our battle against the occupier and within the borders of Palestine. 

This struggle against occupation has legitimacy in international law, and it has also been recognised in all faiths. If this is terrorism, how will you classify Vietnamese resistance, the South African fight against apartheid, the French struggle against Nazis, and the Indian resistance against British and so on,” he told this writer. For many, the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel seems to offer the best chance for a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Yet with each passing day and each new step to expand settlements, the door to such a deal is closed further.

The author is Editor, strategic affairs, DNA