TRUMP'S JERUSALEM MOVE: ISRAELI ARE DELIGHTED AND ANGER IN RAMALLAH
Palestinians are sending their own messages to US President Donald
Trump, following his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
"He's making this about one side, taking the opinion of the
Israelis and ignoring facts about the Palestinians," says Carla Birkat at
a rally in Ramallah.
All around, shops and businesses are shuttered up for a general strike.
Schools and universities are also closed. It adds to the grim mood.
Many people I speak to fear Washington is wrecking chances for them to
have an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
This part of the city was captured by Israel from Jordan in the 1967
Middle East war and later annexed in a move that was not recognised
internationally.
"We condemn the American decision. It has ended the dream for us
as Palestinians," says Abed Jayyusi. "It has ended the two-state
solution."
"Right now we don't want any peace negotiations with the Israelis,
and we're asking the Palestinian president to cut all relations with
Trump," he says.
"We want the rest of the international community to stand next to
us."
In stark contrast, on a bustling shopping street in West Jerusalem,
Israelis I meet are delighted by the gesture of support from their country's
closest ally.
They believe that the US formally recognizing Israel's sovereignty overtheir city corrects a historic injustice.
"Trump is a man who was sent by divine providence, to say the
right thing at the right time," says David Schreider.
As an Orthodox Jew, he sees the city as "the center of Israel and
the entire world" - with Temple Mount, the holiest place for Jews, at its
heart.
But this site in the Old City is also the third most sacred place for
Muslims. It contains the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque.
And some Israelis express fears that religious tensions could be
inflamed by President Trump's pronouncement.
"I have mixed feelings," says Debbie Last. "I'm
basically happy because it's the right and just thing to do.
"But I have reservations because I'm acutely aware of the
repercussions and the violence that might unjustifiably be a response,"
she adds.
Already Palestinian demonstrations over the changes in US policy have
turned into violent confrontations with Israeli soldiers.
The armed Islamist group Hamas has called for an uprising, or intifada.
But while more protests are planned, so far they have not been on such
a scale.
Palestinian and Arab leaders are engaging in frantic diplomacy to shore
up international consensus on the status of Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, Israeli ministers are urging more countries to follow
Washington's lead and begin steps to move their embassies to the city.
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