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Donald Trump

ON Wednesday, the international community understood what United States president Donald Trump meant with his election mantra: “Making America great again,” as he flagrantly disregarded international treaties and backtracked the Palestinian-Israeli peace process.

Although it was evident that under Trump’s presidency, relations between Washington and Israel would drastically change the matrix of peace and security in the Middle East, the global community did not realise that his theatrics would lead him to making the announcement he made on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, Trump delivered on one of his election promises to the American and Israeli peoples when he announced: “While previous presidents have made this a major campaign promise, they failed to deliver. Today, I am delivering . . . My announcement today marks the beginning of a new approach to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.”

Trump said his administration was planning to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem: “It is time to officially recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel,” he said, urging calm and “the voices of tolerance to prevail over the purveyors of hate.”

As he bolstered the United States’ seven decades policy on the Middle East, he also erased years of hard work by various members of the international community in trying to resolve the two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinian State with Russia, a permanent member of the UN Security Council warning that the recognition risked “dangerous and uncontrollable consequences”.

It was a move that also negated the rights of Palestinians as enshrined by international law. In the process, Trump has triggered violent protests and threats of another intifada.

It is worth noting that Trump’s action is being roundly condemned the world over for the international community realises the centrality of Jerusalem in resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. State of Palestine president Mahmoud Abbas, attacked Washington’s decision maintaining that Jerusalem is the “eternal capital of the State of Palestine”.

Abbas added, “The decision by President Trump will not change the reality of the city of Jerusalem and will not give any legitimacy to the Israelis on this issue.”

African Union Commission chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat in a statement said he noted “with deep concern the decision of the United States to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel.”

He regretted the decision adding solidarity of “the African Union with the Palestinian people and its support to their legitimate quest for an independent and sovereign State with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

We also commend organisations such as the Arab League and the United Nations Security Council for calling meetings today and tomorrow in order to map the way forward for the world needs peace and, the Palestinian people also need their statehood.

But at the end of the day, we hope that the voice of reason will prevail for world peace is not only an imperative, but is the only option. The Middle East also needs that. The United States should not be allowed to ride rough shod as they have been doing all along. Their big brother mentality is also out of place in the 21st century.

We reiterate what Foreign Affairs permanent secretary Ambassador Joey Bimha said this week on the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the People of Palestine: “We condemn unreservedly those who pick and choose where to apply the tenets of human rights and justice.

We believe in the ultimate victory of the people of Palestine because their cause is right. Zimbabwe will always stand firm in its support for the Palestinian nation’s struggle for freedom from occupation and its inalienable right to self-determination”.