http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Dismay-and-dire-warnings-heard-around-Arab-world-517275
DISMAY AND DIRE WARNINGS HEARD AROUND ARAB WORLD
Politicians and commentators in the Arab world voiced dismay on Wednesday night in response to
Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and his plan to move the American Embassy, with a prominent Jordanian figure proclaiming, “Peace is dead.”
Abdul-Hadi Majali, former speaker of the Jordanian Parliament, told Al Jazeera, “The Jordanian people are as angry as the Palestinian people. Tonight, Trump killed international legitimacy. For many years it was dying, now it is total death. We had been hoping there would be peace but now the peace is dead.”
“The time has come to say no to the US,” he added. “Geography, history and religion are with us. What we are demanding is international legitimacy, but Israel is behaving recklessly and is supported by Trump.”
The foreign minister of Turkey, which threatened to sever relations with Israel if Trump went ahead, reacted swiftly, tweeting it was “irresponsible” and that the move violated international law.
Public opinion in Jordan, which has a Palestinian majority and is the custodian of al-Aksa, is expected to be strong in reaction. The Jordan Times wrote in its editorial Wednesday that Trump was harming moderates in the region. “The current administration is ignoring US history as a peace broker, as a supporter of forces of moderation and the position of its friends and allies in the region at this critical time.”
Egyptian writer Emile Amin, in an article in the Saudi-owned Asharq al-Awsat, wrote that Trump was fueling extremism in the Arab world. “The Arabs have no more substantial cause than the Palestinian cause, caught between pain and hope over seven decades. Trump’s decision is a big change from the international consensus since before 70 years. Now the efforts of the lost peace between Palestinians and Israelis have reached a dead end. It is over forever. Even if Trump looks at his decision as a small symbolic step, it bears in it dramatic painful meanings which offer legitimation to the occupation.”