The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not reflect in any way those of the Tiger Media Network, its staff or Fort Hays State University.
By DANIEL SAENZ
Tiger Media Network
Since the timing of his campaign, one of President Donald Trump’s many promises to the evangelical audience was to move the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem as the United States
would formally recognize Jerusalem as the official capital of the state of Israel.
President Trump announced the embassy would be relocated to Jerusalem. On May 14, the 70th anniversary of Israel’s declaration of independence, the embassy finally opened. The opening brought a great deal of jubilee among Israelis. Afterall, Trump is enjoying an unprecedented amount of approval in Israel. In fact, U.S. Ambassador David Friedman recently had a photo op with a picture of Jerusalem where the Third Temple replaces Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.
The message is loud and clear at this point. Jerusalem, according to the people who support that this is holy land that belongs to the Jews, and has been so since the reign of Solomon thousands of years ago. So naturally, this comes as a tremendous victory for those who think Muslims cannot possibly lay a legitimate claim to the ancient city of Jerusalem. However, while those in Israel might be jumping for joy, it is a completely different story in the Palestinian territories.
As of now, hundreds of Palestinians have gathered at the border since the end of March in response of the decision . The Israeli Defense Force has responded by firing on the protesters, even going as far as killing children and journalists — and the body count is only continuing to grow for the Palestinians.
Now, those of us living in the United States are exposed to the pro-Israel point of view on a near daily basis. Quite frankly, the response from the IDF was rather predictable. They came right out and said they were killing terrorists affiliated with Hamas, nevermind the fact the protestors were unarmed and easily could have been stopped from crossing the border without killing them.
There is also a problem with the fact no one seems to discuss why the Palestinians are marching on the border in the first place. My friend, Maryam, a Palestinian-Emirati engineering student I befriended while studying in Morocco, gave an insight into the Palestinian perspective.
“For me, Palestine was a land of piece. It is occupied by the Zionist-Israeli since 1948. And since then, my land has seen no peace. They say the land is theirs. I say Palestine is my land and the land of my ancestors. They may say that they harm no one, but what greater harm to humanity is to deprive an innocent people of their rights, and the right to live?”
There is already a dispute about where the actual borders of each respective territory lays, so Jerusalem further complicated matters. After all, Islam and Christianity have extensive ties to the city as well. So, are we going to be consistent and say all religious claims to the city or are we going to take the rational route and say religious claims mean nothing in an international court of law?
Honestly, the religious aspect of this conflict makes it hard to believe there ever will be peace in Israel and Palestine. Until someone steps up to make huge concessions over the “divine
territory of Jerusalem,” there never will be peace as any attempt to mitigate the conflict will be useless in the end.