Killing Spree in Gaza Borders- will it ever end?

Ziauddin Choudhury

At the last count sixty Palestinians have died in Gaza from Israeli military fire on civilians who gathered
in Gaza border to vent their anger at US embassy transfer to Jerusalem. Sixty miles away at Jerusalem
about six hundred people including President Trump’s daughter and son-in-law accompanied by Prime
Minister Netanyahu cheerily inaugurated the new Embassy thoroughly unconcerned about the deadly
happenings in Gaza. But this is all expected, both the celebration of the US embassy move to Israel and
protests by the Palestinians against the move which effectively puts the seal of approval by US on
Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

US embassy transfer to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv is an action that was delayed by all previous US
Presidents because this was an important leverage that US had been using to influence both Israel and
Palestine in the peace negotiations between the two. Although Israel had declared Jerusalem its capital
since the founding of the Jewish state, most western countries including the US did not establish their
embassies in Jerusalem and operated from Tel Aviv instead. However, after US Congress passed a
resolution in 1995 to move US embassy to Jerusalem past US Presidents have delayed the
implementation of the resolution for reasons stated earlier. But the situation changed dramatically
since Donald Trump took office and famously vowed to implement his campaign promise to move US
embassy to Jerusalem.

The US embassy move that occurred this week is more technical than real since the action so far consists
of renaming the already existing US Consulate in Jerusalem as US Embassy and physical relocation of
about ten percent of Embassy staff from Tel Aviv. But this is enough to demonstrate to Israel and the
Palestinians how committed US is to Israel and its needs. It may take several years for total relocation of
the US Embassy to Jerusalem, but this symbolic action has already blown into smithereens three
decades of efforts by past US Presidents to mediate between two feuding parties for a durable peace in
the area. President Trump did not have any qualms about abandoning years of US role as a peace broker
by this decision because he was placating that segment of population in this country that advocates a
more blatantly pro-Israel foreign policy and forceful defense of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s bellicose
attitude to Palestine.

The biggest irony of this decision is that Donald Trump, who was denied a meeting with Netanyahu on a
planned visit by Trump to Israel during latter’s Presidential campaign (Trump later canceled that trip),
would reward the Israeli Prime Minister by activating the long delayed embassy move. Why would
Donald Trump move the US embassy and thus jettison years of US effort for peace in the region? Donald
Trump does not have any personal loyalty to either Netanyahu or Israel. The Republican Party as a
whole was not urging President Trump to move the embassy, and definitely not the Democrats. The only
visibly happy groups were the US Evangelicals who suddenly seem to have embraced Trump as a bold
leader.

President Trump’s decision to go all out with Israel has more to do with his running feud with Iran and
overall approach to Middle East. From his prism Trump and his fellow comrade in arms in Israel view
Iran as the mortal enemy of Israel, a threat that has to be permanently deterred. Netanyahu had urged
his US allies much before Trump came to his Presidency not to enter in any deal with Iran over its
nuclear program. Indeed one Trump’s major vows during the campaign was to shred the Iran nuclear
deal (which he did couple of weeks ago) just not to please Israel but also to drive a wedge among
Muslim nations in the Middle East. He did not have to go far to seek. Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies had
viewed Iran’s Middle East ambitions with alarm aside from their sectarian differences. Saudi Arabia
never warmed to President Obama because of his more realistic views of Iran and pursuit of the nuclear
deal with support from European nations. President Trump used this Arab hostility toward Iran, and
with sweet heart deals with Saudi Arabia on military hardware sales he won Saudi Arabia and the Gulf
Emirates to his side. In this renewed handshake (which had been there since the sixties when the US
had assured the Saudi dynasty of physical protection), an understanding was reached on Saudis turning
the other way in Palestine dispute. In fact, most recently in a meeting with Jewish Groups in New York
Prince Mohammed Bin Salman the crown prince of Saudi Arabia had rebuked the Palestinians for their
refusal to come to terms with Israel.

The bottom line is that the current deadly protest in Gaza by the Palestinians is not likely to generate
much support from the Arab nations. Trump and his administration have decided that in the Middle East
Israel will and should become the dominant power, and the way to do it is by stopping Iran with support
from Saudi Arabia and Gulf Emirates. Israelis can do whatever they want to stifle the protests because
they know its Arab neighbors are not going to stand in arms to support the Palestinians in their demand
for a Jerusalem that the Palestinians once hoped to make their capital too. In fact, going forward Gaza
may turn into a worse open-air jail for nearly two million residents than it so far has been.

The Palestinians can only hope for a condemnation from other moderate European nations and other
Muslim countries. But these countries are also limited by the realities of international politics where the
world’s only super power has decidedly cast its vote in favor of Israel. In a UN meeting on May 15 eight
EU countries tabled a resolution asking Israel to stop using excessive force, the best they could do in
view of strong US opposition to raise and discuss this in the Security Council. So, for now that is the best
international support the doomed people of Gaza will get, and meanwhile more people will get killed as
they try to show their anger throwing stones at a most modern army.

The Middle East is fast becoming a powder keg which may burst anytime and usher the area into an
uncontrollable conflagration. But the powers that rule the region either do not care or they think they
will escape this conflagration. History does not support this complacency. When people rise the powers
that oppress them fall. We hope all powers that have vital interest in the region wake up to this reality
and stop this mindless violence with real and lasting solutions.