Trump and Jerusalem: The Straw that Broke the Camel’s Back

posted on: Dec 13, 2017

By: J. Michael Springmann/Arab America Contributing Writer

Divide et Impera.  In Imperial Rome, the cornerstone of its foreign policy was divide and rule.  Its essence was to set groups, tribes, and other existing power structures against each other, enabling or facilitating Roman control of a region.  Causing discord and fomenting rivalries helped eliminate opposition to the conquering Legions.  This was used to great effect in Gaul (modern day France) and Judea (ancient Palestine).  The British implemented the concept throughout their empire, both in India and Mandate Palestine.

It’s also Donald J. Trump’s policy in the Arab world.  Or, better, it’s Israel’s policy.  President  Trump is simply following their directions, communicated through his Zionist son-in-law, Jared Kushner.  There is an added bonus, the support of Evangelical Christians who somehow believe that an Israel restored to its ancient unity and power, including control of Jerusalem, will hasten the End of the World and bring on the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.  In between, there would be a thousand years of peace.  And then, most of the Jews will convert to Christianity.  (Yeah, more than 60 million Evangelical Protestants believe this.)

Yinon Plan.  Israel’s version of divide and rule is the Yinon Plan.

Back in 1982, Oded Yinon an Israeli journalist formerly attached to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, published a document titled ‘A Strategy for Israel in the Nineteen Eighties.’ This Israeli commentator suggested that for Israel to maintain its regional superiority, it must fragment its surrounding Arab states into smaller units. The document, later labeled as ‘Yinon Plan’, implied that Arabs and Muslims killing each other in endless sectarian wars was, in effect, Israel’s insurance policy.  Gilad Atzmon:  “The Jewish Plan For The Middle East and Beyond”, www.gilad.co.uk/writings, June 13, 2014.

Where Does Trump’s Decision on Jerusalem/Al-Quds Fit In?  On December 6, 2017, the Palestinian representation in the United States had planned an elaborate program tied to the Christmas season titled “Bethlehem on the Hill”.  Invitees included U.S. Congressmen and government officials.  When news of Trump’s decision on moving the American embassy to Jerusalem/Al-Quds surfaced, the organizers canceled the event.  While this was typical of Arab culture, seeing the policy shift as a death in the family, the Palestinians missed a golden opportunity to present their side of the issue to high-level decision-makers, the same day as Trump’s announcement.   

Instead, they let Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, accuse that organization of “damaging the prospects for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.”  The UN, she asserted, “has outrageously been one of the world’s foremost centers [sic] of hostility towards Israel”. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-42287429

UN Ambassador Nikki Haley

With Israeli air attacks on Gaza along with shootings of Palestinian protesters amidst “days of rage” opposing Trump’s policy shift, Arabs appear ineffectual and at cross-purposes with one another.  Ha’aretz, the Israeli newspaper wrote December 7 “Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah … called on the Arab and Muslim world to ‘adopt the Palestinians when they begin a new intifada’…in a televised address following U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement…[of] Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.”   

Yet, the  Washington Post stated December 9 “...in Lebanon, Hasan [sic] Nasrallah, leader of the militant Shiite Hezbollah organization, offered little in the way of concrete support for the Palestinians during an hour-long speech Thursday night [December 7]… ‘Why should we fight for them when they have fought us in Syria?’ asked 38-year-old Mohamed Ibrahim, an accountant.”  Continuing, Ibrahim noted, “The speech placed the responsibility for what happens next at the door of the Palestinians.”

In the midst  of nearly 1,400 Israeli-caused casualties among Palestinians over the weekend of December 9 and 10, Arabs continue to talk, not act:

Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ayman al-Safadi continued his consultations with… his counterparts to discuss…the repercussions of the U.S. decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel…  The minister will [additionally] meet High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini…The top diplomat will also meet Belgian Foreign Minister, Didier Reynders.”

What They’re Not Doing is Reacting–to a Broken Back.  If the Arab states wanted to send Donald J. Trump, his Zio-Nazi handlers, and Israel a real message, they could do one or more of the following:

• Expel the American ambassadors and senior diplomats from their countries
• Publicly identify the CIA Chiefs of Station declared to their foreign ministries
• Recall their ambassadors from the United States
• Announce that U.S. passports are no longer valid for travel to their countries
• Take turns on the UN General Assembly floor asking questions about Israel’s supply of nuclear weapons, poison gas, and deadly bacteria
• Take the concept of Palestine to the General Assembly and seek a vote for recognition by and membership in the UN.
• Impose an oil embargo on the United States and any country moving its embassy to Al-Quds from Tel Aviv.  Announce it will be rescinded when (1) those countries return their diplomatic missions to Tel Aviv and/or (2) aid in the creation of an independent, united, single-state of Palestine, identical to the British Mandate.
• Refuse to meet with high-level U.S. government officials on their junkets to the region.   

Alas, this will likely not happen, although there are growing rejections of U.S. Vice President Mike Pence’s planned visit to the region this month.  To date, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian Coptic Patriarch Tawadros II have announced plans to snub him.  

Pence’s prior arrogant support of Israel is likely a contributing factor.  

This author’s Arabic tutor noted that few Arabs, especially Palestinian ones, had any regard for their leaders. The general feeling, to this writer, is that those officials spend more time posturing and palavering than acting for the benefit of their people.  And Trump’s version of the Balfour Declaration will be a fait accompli.

J. Michael Springmann is an attorney, author, and political commentator.  He has written Visas for Al Qaeda:  CIA Handouts That Rocked The World, and a second book, Goodbye, Europe? Hello, Chaos? Merkel’s Migrant Bomb.  Both are available on Amazon.  The books’ website is:  www.michaelspringmann.com