With His Jerusalem Move, Trump Flings Gas Can Over a Region Aflame

As reports mount that the Trump administration will officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, USCPR Executive Director Yousef Munayyer spoke to The Intercept about the implications of such a move.

“The peace process — whatever that is and whatever is left of it — was built on agreements that included a certain set of American guarantees about how the U.S. would approach final status issues, including the question of Jerusalem,” said Yousef Munayyer, the executive director of the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights. “It now looks as though the Trump administration is trying to ram an agreement down the throat of the Palestinian Authority that would be disastrous for them, and is using a number of different threats, such as the status of Jerusalem, as a means of doing this.”

Regional countries and organizations such as the Arab League and the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation have lodged objections to any possible change in the status of Jerusalem, while Palestinian factions have called for protests to be held in the coming days. However harsh the reaction, one might have reasonably expected it.

“This is something that no American president has dared to do before,” added Munayyer, “because of the kind of pushback that they would receive in the region.”

Read the article here.