Donald Trump's decision to move the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem was utterly cynical. Michael Harris writes:
When Trump departed from longstanding American policy by moving the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, he knew the consequences for Middle East peace — especially in the absence of an active peace process.
Trump knew that both Israel and Palestine saw Jerusalem as their national capital.
He knew the status of the city was supposed to be settled in final negotiations between the two parties.
He knew that having Christian evangelicals open and close the embassy ceremony would be provocative with Palestinians.
And one evangelical pastor, Robert Jeffress, was there to throw hand grenades:
Jeffress, a Baptist pastor from Texas, was on record saying that “the dark, dirty secret of Islam” is that “it is a religion that promotes pedophilia” and is “a heresy from the pit of hell.”
And this man is a spiritual advisor to the president.
The Israeli reaction to the Palestinian protests involved more than throwing one hand grenade:
60 human beings [were] gunned down in cold blood . . a doctor [was] shot while tending to wounded civilians, and 2,800 people [were] hit by live fire or tear gassed by drones for protesting an illegal occupation.
And Trump's special envoy to the Middle East -- his clueless son-in-law -- said that moving the embassy was a step toward peace. It was no such thing. There is an election coming up in November, and Trump was playing to his base back home.
Like everything else Donald Trump does, moving the American embassy was utterly cynical. It was a bloody reminder of the total rot that permeates the Trump administration -- from the top on down.
Image: Palestine Chronicle
2 comments:
Trump gets away with his terrible behaviour because America (and much of the developed world including Canada) does not have an alternate vision that resonates with enough people to make a difference.
The hippie rebellion of the 60s, filled with hope for positive change was derailed by the self actuation movement. It all degenerated into what Tom Wolfe (who died a few days ago) called, "Let's talk about me." From there it led to religion, mostly variations of holy roller and that's where so many people are stuck. It's Me, Me, Me and Jesus (or equivalent) tribalism. Progressive humanism is lost.
Wolfe famously coined the phrase, "The Me Generation," Toby. Trump represents that generation of steroids.
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