Jerusalem in Trouble:
CSS Current Affairs

Jerusalem is home to sacred relics, historical figures and holy sites, shared by the world’s three largest monotheistic faiths. At the same time, it’s at the center of a power struggle dating back centuries. Jerusalem has been destroyed at least twice, traded hands dozens of times and currently exists in a really contested legal status. (CSS Current Affairs)

The Jerusalem of the Bible is what we refer to today as the ‘Old City’, part of occupied East Jerusalem. These are the Holy Lands home to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Western Wall and finally Al-Aqsa mosque. The last two share an area known as Temple Mount.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre holds two of Christianity’s holiest sites; Calvary – considered the place of Jesus’ crucifixion and the empty tomb where he’s said to have been buried and resurrected.

Some striking revelations have also been disclosed amid these developments. Analysts have widely anticipated Saudi Arabia’s secret relations and intelligence sharing with Israel.

Judaism sees Temple Mount as its holiest site and the place which mostly holds God’s divine presence. The Western Wall’s proximity to the original Temple Mount makes it a place of prayer and pilgrimage of thousands of faithful. Finally, the Al-Aqsa mosque considered the third holiest site in Islam sits on top of Temple Mount, known as Haram al Shareef in Arabic or the noble sanctuary.

It’s the site where the Muslim Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) traveled to from Mecca before ascending to the heavens in what the Islamic faith refers to as “The night of the Journey”. These sites have lured pilgrims and historians for many generations and have a special place in the hearts of billions around the world.

Read more: Palestine Crisis

Both Israel and Palestine used to claim Jerusalem as their capital but after Israel seized much of Jerusalem in the Six-Day war in 1967, they’ve been in control of most of the city including East Jerusalem, considered “part of the occupied Palestinian territory” and the “Old City”. Before the war there were five distinct districts that made up of the old city.

The Western Wall’s proximity to the original Temple Mount makes it a place of prayer and pilgrimage of thousands of faithful.

In the weeks after the Six-Day war, Israeli forces occupied East Jerusalem and bulldozed the ancient Moroccan Quarter to make room for access to the Western Wall. Under International law, none of this land belongs to Israel but still they’ve been controlling the city for the last 50 years. Since the establishment of the Israeli state, Palestinians are living under severe persecution by the occupation forces.

The annals of Palestinian history in the post-Israeli state declaration period are replete with horrendous events. Intermittent bombings on Gaza strip, violence against women, bulldozing houses and disruption of the supply of commodities and building material to occupied areas has been the norm of Zionist settlers.

In the backdrop of these strident restraints, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed and thousands detained, expectedly, the numbers are set to climb in proportion ahead.

A day earlier, one of the most striking and intensely provoking development in Middle Eastern politics has happened as US President Donald Trump, a notorious statesman, has taken a shift in his country’s Jerusalem policy.

Decades of US commitment to Palestinian conflict finally fell in the lap of Zionists offending Muslims around the world. Breaking down the facts in Trump’s declaration, Trump denied all the retrospective anomalies in the Israel-Palestine conflict.  Giving absolute legitimacy to Israel’s occupation, Trump blatantly revoked Palestinians right to self-determination and proceedings of the UNSC resolutions.

Judaism sees Temple Mount as its holiest site and the place which mostly holds God’s divine presence.

Amidst freezing the spirit of the Muslims to the Palestinian cause and their deep-rooted engagements in self-inflicted conflicts, this was a much-awaited and desirous declaration for the Jews. From Jimmy Carter to Barack Obama, no US President unlike Donald Trump dared to officially alter the legal status of Jerusalem fearing the expected backlash by the Muslim community.

The US has long tried to challenge the UN declaration on Jerusalem as protection of Israeli interests and has been and still is one of the pillars of US strategic policy towards the Middle East.

However, this paradigm shift in the US’s Jerusalem policy has sparked outrage worldwide. With Hamas (a former governing political movement) blatantly rejecting Trump’s declaration and calling for drastic measures, third Palestinian intifada (uprising) has revived.

As the tensions grew, clashes erupted in the Gaza Strip near the border with Israel. Four Palestinian have been martyred and around 300 wounded with Israeli army firing at the protestors. Clashes began as soon as Trump made his declaration, heightening the intensity as Israeli fighter jets started bombing the Gaza strip to quell this uprising.

The US has long tried to challenge the UN declaration on Jerusalem as protection of Israeli interests and has been and still is one of the pillars of US strategic policy towards the Middle East.

Israel’s violation of the International rules and regulations is not a new phenomenon. Since the 1947 UN Partition Plan for Palestine, Israel violated 28 UNSC Resolutions and ignored almost 40 non-binding UNSC Resolutions.

There has been strong case of war crimes and illegal occupations against Israel in the UNSC proceedings but Israel could not bear any penalty enjoying US diplomatic and political shelter against the will of the international community. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has cut down all diplomatic channels with the US following the recent Washington move.

Some striking revelations have also been disclosed amid these developments. Analysts have widely anticipated Saudi Arabia’s secret relations and intelligence sharing with Israel. Following this decision, Saudi’s broadcasting premiers warned the countrywide media outlets and publication channels to halt the broadcasting of Trump’s recent declaration.

Not only this, Saudi Arabia and its political allies UAE and Bahrain sent a stern warning notice to their overseas citizens not to participate in any protests aiming to condemn US recognition. Speculations are also rotating about a Bahrainian delegation visit of Israel after Washington’s Jerusalem decision.  These shocking developments in the recent crisis indicates the covertly divisive response of the Muslim world towards the recent US move of recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Courtesy: Yasir Malik

Yasir M’alik has completed his Masters in International Relations from University of the Punjab, Lahore. He is currently working at South Asian Strategic Stability Institute (SASSI), Islamabad as a Research Fellow.