Rashid Khalidi is a Jerusalemite-American, a renowned Columbia University professor and one of the leading scholars on the Palestinian issue in the world. He had been mentioned among Barack Obama’s inner circle before Obama moved to the White House. Commenting on US President Donald Trump’s move on Jerusalem in The Guardian, Khalidi wrote, “Every time it seems Donald Trump cannot outdo himself, he does it again. Now he has announced that his administration will recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, reversing nearly seven decades of American policy. This step will have multiple negative ramifications, many impossible to predict. Jerusalem is the most important of the so-called final status issues that have been repeatedly deferred during the Israel-Palestine negotiations because of their extreme sensitivity. Trump has ploughed into this imbroglio like a bull in a china shop, zeroing in on the most complex and emotional issue of all those connected to Palestine.”

He added, “This act completely disqualifies the US from its longstanding role as broker, a position that Washington has monopolized for itself. So much for the pitiful ‘peace plan’ that Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner was cooking up and hoping to impose on the Palestinians.”

Trump’s very controversial decision to move the American Embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which he recognized as the capital of the State of Israel, created an international uproar. Remarkably, even the most traditional Western allies of the United States denounced the decision with strikingly harsh language.

In a Dec. 6 editorial titled “Trump’s Dangerous Decision on Jerusalem,” the influential British daily Financial Times wrote, “Recognizing the holy city as Israel’s capital is a senseless provocation” and “an act of diplomatic vandalism.” It further said, “It is the more curious for the likelihood that no one will benefit from it, or at least no one interested in peace — not even Mr. Trump himself. He has united almost everyone against him, including his closest allies in the region, provoked outrage among Muslims, provided fuel for extremists and, not for the first time, diminished America in the eyes of the world. Nor has he served Israel’s interests well — though some Israelis might disagree.”