U.S. ready to open Jerusalem embassy in May -State Department

[rooster59]

U.S. ready to open Jerusalem embassy in May -State Department

By Yara Bayoumy

 

FILE PHOTO: An Israeli flag is seen near the Dome of the Rock, located in Jerusalem's Old City on the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount December 6, 2017. REUTERS/Ammar Awad/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Friday it will open its embassy to Israel in Jerusalem in May, a move from Tel Aviv that reverses decades of U.S. policy and is bound to trouble U.S. allies who have already objected.

 

U.S. President Donald Trump announced last December that the United States recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital, infuriating even Washington's Arab allies and dismaying Palestinians who want the eastern part of the city as their capital.

 

No other country has recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital and Trump's decision has sown discord between the United States and the European Union over Middle East peace efforts.

 

"We are excited about taking this historic step, and look forward with anticipation to the May opening," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said, noting that it will coincide with Israel's 70th anniversary.

 

The embassy in Jerusalem will be gradually expanded in existing consular facilities in the Arnona neighbourhood, while the search for a permanent site has already begun for what Nauert called a "longer-term undertaking."

 

The interim embassy will have office space for the ambassador and a small staff and, by the end of 2019, a new embassy annex on the Arnona compound will be opened, Nauert said in a statement.

 

The consulate in East Jerusalem will continue to serve Palestinians, and for security reasons U.S. Ambassador David Friedman will continue living in the residence in Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv, and commute to the relocated embassy, another official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

 

A May opening is earlier than expected - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence told the Israeli parliament last month that the move would take place by the end of 2019.

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed Friday's U.S. announcement as "a great day for the people of Israel".

Palestinians reacted to the news with anger.

 

"This is an unacceptable step. Any unilateral move will not give legitimacy to anyone and will be an obstacle to any effort to create peace in the region," said Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, who is in the United States until Saturday.

 

The status of Jerusalem — home to sites holy to the Muslim, Jewish and Christian religions — has been one of the thorniest issues in long-running Mideast peace efforts.

 

In a speech on Friday to a gathering of conservatives in suburban Washington, Trump recalled his controversial decision, saying he withstood enormous pressure to make the move.

 

"I put the word out that I may do it. I was hit by more countries and more pressure and more people calling, begging me ‘Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it,'" Trump said.

 

"I said we have to do it. It's the right thing to do. It's the right thing to do, we have to do it. And I did it."

 

Clashes erupted in Gaza and the West Bank earlier on Friday, in a weekly protest against Trump's stance on Jerusalem.

 

Palestinian health officials have said at least 20 Palestinians, most of them in Gaza, have been killed in protests against Trump's decision since he announced it on Dec. 6.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-02-24

 

 

[soalbundy]

The building will weigh 20 million tons due to the thick armour plating on the outside, embassy personal will be driven to and fro from their underground homes in tanks.

[wavemanwww]

Stupid decision!

[DeaconJohn]

Trump's ill-conceived Jerusalem initiative may yet have a positive consequence, however unintended.

Nothing has been as harmful to the Palestinian struggle to end Israel's occupation and unrelenting theft of territory intended for its state as Abbas' insistence on the preservation of the Palestinian Authority and the myth that it serves as "a state in formation," when it so clearly allowed Israel to solidify its occupation. Trump's move on Jerusalem achieved what years of Israel's settlements failed to do - shatter the illusion of a two-state outcome, and allow the Palestinian national movement to turn into a struggle for rights, which is to say a struggle to end Israel's de facto apartheid regime.

What is particularly significant is that the younger generation of Palestinians is opting for a struggle for equal rights in a single state. It is the right choice, for their struggle for a state of their own is one Palestinians cannot win, while a struggle to maintain an apartheid regime is one that Israel cannot win in the long run. The civilized world will come down on them just as it did on white South Africa.

 

[sanemax]

This could be the beginning of the West Bank annexation process .

Due to Palestinians stubbornness and being unwilling to negotiate , the possibilities of them achieving statehood have been diminishing over the years .

  As they have no leverage , they will have to accept what is given to them , which in the future, may be nothing

[DeaconJohn]

3 minutes ago, sanemax said:

This could be the beginning of the West Bank annexation process .

Due to Palestinians stubbornness and being unwilling to negotiate , the possibilities of them achieving statehood have been diminishing over the years .

  As they have no leverage , they will have to accept what is given to them , which in the future, may be nothing

Your first sentence is spot on.

After that you slipped into a pool of hogwash.

[Somtamnication]

These yanks really do want WW3. 

[quandow]

1 hour ago, Somtamnication said:

These yanks really do want WW3. 

To be clear, that's the U.S. GOVERNMENT that wants profitable war, NOT its citizens. Ten years ago I was working as a tour guide on a boat in Thailand. One day I was assigned an Iranian customer. We immediately eyed each other suspiciously because that's what our governments TELL us we should do. By the end of the day, we became friends, realizing we all want the same things - family, employment, all things that make life worth living. Don't hold it against all Americans because their government is the biggest terror sponsor on earth.

Edited February 25, 2018 by quandow
spelling correction.

[Morch]

 

@DeaconJohn

 

What you're on about sounds more like wishful thinking. 

 

There is no wide spread "rights movement" among Palestinians, at least not in the way touted. Other than wide tracts of Palestinian society being into "resistance" (armed or otherwise), and less willing to drop the self-determination bit, the notions associated with one-state solutions often take the shape of achieving the same goal through different means, rather than a true paradigm shift.

 

And while trumping (not put intended) the same slogans - the facts are clear: the Palestinian cause is ill served by choice of violence, or by fantasies of achieving an ultimate "victory". The only meaningful gains made were the ones won through negotiation and compromise.

 

 

 

[Morch]

9 hours ago, sanemax said:

This could be the beginning of the West Bank annexation process .

Due to Palestinians stubbornness and being unwilling to negotiate , the possibilities of them achieving statehood have been diminishing over the years .

  As they have no leverage , they will have to accept what is given to them , which in the future, may be nothing

 

The Trump administration was quick to deny, in no uncertain way, that Netanyahu's words about annexation etc. were coordinated with the US, and that the US does not share this point of view. Trump's Jerusalem announcement does not express support for annexation - it actually left the territorial issue pretty much as it was, regardless of how things are presented by opposing parties.

 

I don't think that the Palestinian are about to face an Israeli wholesale annexation move anytime soon. On the other hand, anything that puts negotiations on hold, implies worse conditions in the future. This is more about creeping de-facto "mini--annexations" enacted over time. Or about Israel creating even more conditions on the ground which may preclude a semi-viable Palestinian State.

 

Not only is there no Palestinian leverage, there's also diminishing interest and support from Arab countries traditionally playing the sponsor roles. There are, of course, various reversed peaks to this trend, usually associated with moves related to Jerusalem.

 

 

[wavemanwww]

On 2/25/2018 at 1:23 PM, DeaconJohn said:

Trump's ill-conceived Jerusalem initiative may yet have a positive consequence, however unintended.

Nothing has been as harmful to the Palestinian struggle to end Israel's occupation and unrelenting theft of territory intended for its state as Abbas' insistence on the preservation of the Palestinian Authority and the myth that it serves as "a state in formation," when it so clearly allowed Israel to solidify its occupation. Trump's move on Jerusalem achieved what years of Israel's settlements failed to do - shatter the illusion of a two-state outcome, and allow the Palestinian national movement to turn into a struggle for rights, which is to say a struggle to end Israel's de facto apartheid regime.

What is particularly significant is that the younger generation of Palestinians is opting for a struggle for equal rights in a single state. It is the right choice, for their struggle for a state of their own is one Palestinians cannot win, while a struggle to maintain an apartheid regime is one that Israel cannot win in the long run. The civilized world will come down on them just as it did on white South Africa.

 

My friend . Your dream will not happen whilst the USA military and the USA politically backs Israel for their own agenda. I do not condone the USA in this Israel/ Palestinian conflict at all. Nor do I respect the Israel military for their heavy military paybacks to Palestinians  who are just trying to survive. But sadly this struggle will go on and on! So sad for all.

 

So sad for us that watch it on TV in the comforts of a secure safe country and feel the pain for the Palestinians who are just trying to  survive and TRYING to make a homeland that they can call HOME!

[Morch]

6 minutes ago, wavemanwww said:

My friend . Your dream will not happen whilst the USA military and the USA politically backs Israel for their own agenda. I do not condone the USA in this Israel/ Palestinian conflict at all. Nor do I respect the Israel military for their heavy military paybacks to Palestinians  who are just trying to survive. But sadly this struggle will go on and on! So sad for all.

 

So sad for us that watch it on TV in the comforts of a secure safe country and feel the pain for the Palestinians who are just trying to  survive and TRYING to make a homeland that they can call HOME!

 

"...just trying to survive, and trying to make a homeland that they can call home".

 

I'm torn between calling it BS or clueless.

 

 

Edited February 26, 2018 by Morch

[wavemanwww]

4 minutes ago, Morch said:

 

"...just trying to survive, and trying to make a homeland that they can call home".

 

I'm torn between calling it BS or clueless.

 

 

I''ll help you Israelis are full of BS and clueless. Does that help?

[Morch]

3 minutes ago, wavemanwww said:

I''ll help you Israelis are full of BS and clueless. Does that help?

 

Not really, unless you were trying to make it clear that you did not get the point of the post. Otherwise, just more nonsense. Saying that the Palestinians are "just trying to survive" or "just trying to make a homeland they can call home" is both inaccurate and oversimplified "version" of things.

[wavemanwww]

8 minutes ago, Morch said:

 

Not really, unless you were trying to make it clear that you did not get the point of the post. Otherwise, just more nonsense. Saying that the Palestinians are "just trying to survive" or "just trying to make a homeland they can call home" is both inaccurate and oversimplified "version" of things.

Good bye