DoomsdaysCW<p>The <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Jerusalem" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Jerusalem</span></a> Issue, Explained</p><p>By Max Fisher<br>Dec. 9, 2017</p><p>"Why is President <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Trump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Trump</span></a>’s announcement that the United States now considers Jerusalem to be Israel’s capital such a big deal? Why are some experts warning of violence or an end to the peace process? What’s the dispute over Jerusalem all about, anyway? Let’s review. </p><p>"What Are the Basics?<br>Both <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Israelis" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Israelis</span></a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Palestinians" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Palestinians</span></a> claim the city as their political capital and as a <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/sacred" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>sacred</span></a> religious site. Israel controls the entirety of the city. Any <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/peace" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>peace</span></a> deal would need to resolve that. </p><p>"The city’s status has been disputed, at least officially, since the 1948 <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ArabIsraeli" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ArabIsraeli</span></a> War. Before that, the United Nations had designated Jerusalem as a special international zone. During the war, Israel seized the city’s western half. It seized the eastern half during the next Arab-Israeli war, in 1967. </p><p>"Most foresee a peace deal that gives <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WesternJerusalem" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WesternJerusalem</span></a> to <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Israel" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Israel</span></a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/EasternJerusalem" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>EasternJerusalem</span></a> to a future Palestinian state. </p><p>"The United States, in order to present itself as a dispassionate broker, long considered Jerusalem’s status to be a conflict issue that was up to Israelis and Palestinians to decide. Mr. Trump is breaking with that traditional neutrality. </p><p>"Maybe more important, Israel’s position on Jerusalem isn’t just that its capital should be somewhere in the city. A 1980 law declared Jerusalem to be Israel’s 'undivided' capital, which was widely understood as a de facto <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/annexation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>annexation</span></a> of the city’s eastern half. </p><p>"Mr. Trump, in endorsing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, did not explicitly endorse this idea. But he didn’t reject it, either. Nor did he say that Jerusalem should also become the Palestinian capital.<br>This implies that the United States is increasingly supportive of Israel’s position — full annexation — though this would almost certainly kill any viable peace deal."</p><p>Original article:<br><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/09/world/middleeast/jerusalem-trump-capital.html" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">nytimes.com/2017/12/09/world/m</span><span class="invisible">iddleeast/jerusalem-trump-capital.html</span></a></p><p>Archived version:<br><a href="https://archive.ph/i2Whq" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="">archive.ph/i2Whq</span><span class="invisible"></span></a> </p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Palestine" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Palestine</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CeasefireNow" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>CeasefireNow</span></a></p>