A distorted reaction to U.S. Embassy move
President Donald Trump decides to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, the capital city of the State of Israel, and there is an uproar, instead of declaring “It’s about time” — “shon zeit,” in Yiddish (“Recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital ‘naked aggression,’ Islamic nations warn Trump,” Dec. 7).
Jerusalem was the original capital of the predecessor to the State of Israel, the United Kingdom. It was established by Jewish King David in about 1000 B.C.E., with the Jewish Holy Temple in Jerusalem built by his son King Solomon.
The current State of Israel was founded after the War of Independence, which was started in 1948 by six Arab countries and ended with an Israeli victory in 1949. Jerusalem became the State of Israel’s capital city and Israel’s parliament building, the Knesset, was located in Jerusalem.
All international embassies are normally located in the respective host country’s capital city, which for the State of Israel is Jerusalem. As such, that is where the United States’ and all other countries’ embassies normally belong.
Calling Trump’s embassy move interference to achieving peace between Israel and the Palestinians is a farce. For almost 25 years the Palestinians have not seriously stepped up to taking their peace accord actions that they reached with the Israelis under the 1993 Oslo Accords, which established a set of terms for each side for reaching lasting peace between the two. It is about time they do.
Shon zeit.
RALPH SHAPIRO
Silver Spring
Embassy move overdue
I would not vote for President Donald Trump for dogcatcher.
Nonetheless, he did the right thing when he announced that the American embassy will be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem (“Recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital ‘naked aggression,’ Islamic nations warn Trump,” Dec. 7). Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East and one of America’s closest allies in the war on terror. No other country has been denied the right to locate its capital city. Jerusalem has been the capital of Israel, is now the capital of Israel, and forever
will be the capital of Israel. Moving the American embassy to Jerusalem is long overdue.
LEE HURWITZ
Rockville
No surprise in reactions
President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, nothing changed, but these were the unsurprising reactions (“Recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital ‘naked aggression,’ Islamic nations warn Trump,” Dec. 7):
Palestinians turned to rioting, rockets and killing.
Europeans denounced the statement as one-sided and catastrophic, even though they hold the one-sided view recognizing the non-state of Palestine. For over 1,000 years these Europeans told Jews where — and even if they can — live. So too today.
The U.N. Security Council, except for the United States, denounced the statement as one-side, though they had passed a one-sided resolution that it was illegal for Jews to live in East Jerusalem.
The press printed article after article with the same quotes and views denouncing Trump’s statement, with Palestinians presenting their typical “Alas, woe is me” wallowing.
The critics, including some left-wing Jews, erroneously claimed the statement to be contrary to the two-state solution or ill-timed, as if any time in the past or future would be the right time, unless the Palestinians agreed. None consider Hamas rockets and Palestinian terrorism contrary to a peaceful solution. They endorse the position that an East Jerusalem, before 1967 with no Jews, is the model for a Palestinian state, but assert Israel to be an apartheid state.
Trump’s statement neither undermines nor moves the peace process forward. There was no peace process, merely a process of Israel giving up land and Palestinians making the same promises they have broken before. How can one expect peace from people who riot and kill when things don’t go their way and believe Jews have no rights?
None consider that when Palestinians speak of Jerusalem they mean theirs exclusively, with no Jews. When Israelis speak of Jerusalem they mean a city respecting all religious faiths.
MELVIN FARBER
Silver Spring
