Trump’s actions could rip Jerusalem apart

Then again, Palestinian statements suggesting that East Jerusalem could easily be re-divided from West Jerusalem along the pre-1967 line are also predicated on ignoring real life. It’s not just that 210,000 Israelis live in neighborhoods built across that border. East Jerusalem Palestinians have told me, half arguing with themselves, that the present is untenable but that a Palestinian state could cost them the right to work in Israel, and to collect the Israeli National Insurance (social security) benefits for which they’ve paid their whole lives. There’s a growing cottage industry in Hebrew classes for East Jerusalem teens who want to study in Israeli universities — just one sign of the delicate interconnections between the Arab and Jewish cities…

In his speech, Trump paid lip service to negotiations on the city’s final status. But as was totally predictable, his declaration was read by Israelis, Palestinians and others in the Middle East as an American endorsement of the Israeli government’s position on Jerusalem.

In response, Muslim countries will feel obligated to take sharper stands against Israeli control of East Jerusalem and the holy sites. Palestinians in East Jerusalem will feel pressed to oppose Israeli rule more forcefully. Whether or not violence erupts now, Trump has added to Palestinian despair, and despair increases the chance of an eruption. The real symbolism of Trump’s statement is that he couldn’t care less about the real city of Jerusalem.