Trump's Jerusalem move may prove blessing for Erdogan
While Trump’s Jerusalem statement provided Erdogan an opportunity to present himself as the leader and spokesman of the Muslim world, the move could further polarize the region and destabilize Turkey.
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.”
