Editorial Courtesy The Island

December 10, 2017, 12:00 pm
US President Donald Trump has demonstrated that he is capable of doing with his restless tongue what his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong-un, or ‘Rocket Man’, is threatening to do with nukes—wreaking destruction. His decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel has plunged the entire region into chaos with violence escalating in the occupied territories of Palestine. All signs are that an unprecedented bloodbath is around the corner—absit omen!

Trump’s decision is, no doubt, a threat to Palestine and global peace. Above all, it has caused an existential crisis to the UN. The US action was widely condemned at the UN Security Council (UNSC) emergency meeting the other day. The US has drawn heavy flak from even its traditional allies. The UK has said it won’t consider emulating the US, which has decided to shift its embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv.

The UN’s raison d’etre stands questioned. If the US is allowed to enjoy unbridled freedom to act as it wishes in contravention of international laws then there is absolutely no need for the UN. What is of crucial import is not so much what the UNSC thinks of the White House decision but what it is going to do about it. How does the world body propose to deal with the US move? This is the moment of truth for the UN.

The success of Trump’s make-America-great-again project hinges on his ability to remove all obstacles, real and perceived, to US effort to dominate a fast changing world, which is throwing up new challenges and threats. President George H. W. Bush started the Gulf War to overcome this problem by making a stunning display of the US military might in a bid to frighten the entire world into submission; all his predecessors have been fighting wars at an enormous human cost. Trump wanted to do a Bush, but baulked at going to war with North Korea as he met his match in the Rocket Man, who has nukes at his disposal and won’t hesitate to push the nuclear button. Trump knows the North Korean nuclear threat is real unlike Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction. It looks as if the US were exploring other ways of repositioning and reasserting itself in the emerging new world order. It has apparently opted for a diplomatic war with the rest of the world by defying all UN resolutions and the internationally accepted two-state policy in respect of Palestine and Israel. Trump seems to have told other nations a la Bush, “You are either with us or against us.”

Trump’s Jerusalem decision has obviously gone down well with Israel, but, in fact, it has done the latter more harm than good. The US has provided Israel’s enemies with a fresh rallying point and caused the Jewish nation to lose whatever international sympathy it may have had. Not even the traditional western allies of the US are in a position to back Trump’s decision.

The UN and the UNHRC have been accused of being mere rubber stamps of the US, but they have refused to fall in line anent the Palestine issue as evident from the sheer number of resolutions adopted by them against Israel. The US has apparently sought their total surrender through its latest move.

The biggest beneficiaries of the US decision to recognise Jerusalem as part of Israeli territory will be the various terrorist groups flaunting an Islamic cause. They are likely to make the most of the situation and take their terror campaign to the next level.

Strangely, Sri Lanka has chosen to remain silent on Trump’s decision, as one of our columnists points out today. The Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government is full of politicians who took MP Wimal Weerawansa to task—and rightly so—for staging a fast opposite UN Colombo Office against the UNHRC’s call for a war crimes probe against this country some years ago. It will be interesting to see what they have got to say about President Trump’s thundering slap on the UN.

Israel and Palestine will have to reach a settlement and co-exist someday. The only way to enable them to achieve that goal so their future generations will be able to live in peace is to adopt a solution in keeping with the UN resolutions on the issue. It is hoped that world powers will sink their differences and join forces to rein in the Trump administration.