Whatever happened to Islam being the supposed "religion of peace"? Because judging by the response to President Trump declaring Jerusalem the capital of Israel, peace has left the building.
No one, including Americans and Israelis, knew which U.S. president would actually take the initiative to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Heck, the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 has been in place for 22 years, but former presidents -- and even Trump, one time -- issued waivers to delay the move.
Bill Clinton promised. Nothing. George W. Bush promised. Nothing. Barack Obama promised. Nothing. But now, it's happening.
So how exactly did Muslims around the world react to President Trump finally fulfilling the pledge?
ABC's European Correspondent Steve Cannane spoke to several Jerusalem residents who hyperbolized that Trump was practically taking away their homes simply by acknowledging the simple fact that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital.
“God knows what the repercussions will be [of President Trump's announcement],” Omran Dakkak, a Muslim who runs a business in Jerusalem said. “I cannot predict anything, but it's not going to be nice.”
Agence France-Presse (AFP), along with the Times of Israel, reported that Lebanese and Palestinian Muslim demonstrators were lighting fires outside the U.S. Embassy in Beirut and even burning a mock-up of the Israeli flag in protest.
The religion of peace, right?
As the Blaze’s Pat Grey noted in a recent video, “Palestinians could have had their own state years ago — on five separate occasions.”
Grey said in the following in the video:
They partitioned two separate nations; one was Israel, and one was, in fact, a Palestinian state. They [Palestinians] rejected it. ‘No, thank you. We’re going to take it all.’ And they got together with their Arab brethren, and they went to war with Israel in 1948 over it[…]And the same thing happened in 1956 and 1973 and 1981 and all through the nineties. Again in 2000. It’s happened over and over again.
Palestinians and their supporters repeat ad nauseam the mantra that Israel is the true villain of the piece, claiming the Jewish state routinely murders Palestinians without provocation. But it was the radical Islamist group Hamas -- not Israel -- who urged Palestinians to “abandon peace efforts” and called for a “Day of Rage.” Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh demanded an intifada against non-Muslims.
“We demand, call and will launch an intifada in the face of the Zionist occupation,” Ismail Haniyeh said in a speech. “Jerusalem is being kidnapped and ripped from us.”
All of that violent rhetoric came mere months after Hamas declared that it would no longer call for the destruction of the State of Israel and reportedly cut ties with the Muslim Brotherhood. However, in that same statement, Hamas said that it still doesn’t acknowledge Israel’s right to exist.
A simple Google search reveals that there have been 14 rocket attacks on Israel by Palestinians in 2017 alone, led primarily by Hamas. Three of those rocket attacks have come since Trump’s decision to place the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, and none were provoked attacks. Israel's mere existence appears to be motivation enough for radical Jihadists.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan responded to the Trump's pro-Jerusalem actions by saying that the decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital would “provide a boost for terrorist groups.” And no wonder, considering POLITICO reported in 2016 that “Erdogan has actively supported cooperation with Islamist and terrorist organizations, such as Hamas.” So was Erdogan’s claim a warning or a promise?
While most of us who think rationally agree that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, we seem to be left with more questions than answers.
Will we see an uptick in terrorist actions towards Jews and Israelis? What will be the resulting actions from the current U.S. administration? Even though they haven’t so far, will Muslims ever accept Trump’s action? Will a future U.S. president reverse the declaration and move things in a regressive direction?
It’s an issue that has plagued the Middle East since World War I and escalated after World War II. It doesn't appear that the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians will end any time soon.
The “religion of peace” won’t allow it.
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