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Tag: Donald Trump

  • Donald Trump, Israeli’s friend or foe?

    Donald Trump, Israeli’s friend or foe?

    With friends like the 45th President of United States of America, Donald Trump, Israel possibly needs not worry about the danger posed by Hamas – the Palestinian resistance movement. Gaza is firmly under the heels of Hamas which unapologetically remains hard put to recognize the state of Israel. Last Wednesday, December 6, President Donald Trump acted true to character as a renegade President of US to unilaterally recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel. He even dared to announce the relocation of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem!

    Of course there is already a bagful of his renegade policies; repeal of Obamacare, renege on Climate treaty, reversal of the deal with Iran, reversal of Cuba-America detente, ad infinitum! No country parades such a president mid-way in the first term! True to expectation, amidst global outrage which trails Trump’s diplomatic provocation, Hamas leader Ismail Haniya declared the US decision on Jerusalem as “war declaration against Palestinians”. He called for a new “Intifada”, an uprising.

    The critical question begging for an answer is what manner of a friend of Israel is Trump, who through sheer political brigandage pushes Israel back to the brink of intifada (a Palestinian insurgency manifesting in series of violent acts and attacks against the Israeli occupation lasting from December 1987 to 2014 in which both the Palestinians and Israelis buried their dead)?  A received African wisdom has it that “a close friend can become a close enemy”! With friends like Trump, Israel does not need to worry about Hamas leader Ismail Haniya. This is another paradox of Middle East’s intractable conflicts; both the enemies and so-called friends of Israel achieve same goal: keeping the state of Israel in perpetual war of attrition!

    Reading through the 1250 plus word counts of President Donald Trump recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel reminds me of the opening sentence by Simon Seberg Montefiore in his preface to his best-selling “Speeches that Changed the World” (2005). According to Simon, a “great speech does not just capture the truth of the era; it can also capture the big lie”. President Donald Trump’s speech is comparable to Adolf Hitler’s demagoguery of September 1938. According to Donald Trump, his predecessors had invoked “waivers” refusing to move the US embassy to Jerusalem or to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city. Apparently, Trump did not invent the idea of Jerusalem as the Israel’s capital after all, contrary to his verbal appropriation and empty grandstanding. Why should Trump then be “holier than the Pope”, even when we have just witnessed many devilish details (tear gas, stone-throwing, shootings and killings!) in the aftermath of his unthinking self-serving diplomatic adventure?

    Former American presidents correctly set their eyes on peace in a war-torn region. This explained their measured discretion in applying the controversial 1995 American Jerusalem Embassy Act. It is tragi-comedy that a trigger happy President Trump bent on diverting attention from his domestic woes needs a diplomatic blunder to prove his “courage”!

    Elie Wiesel, a celebrated writer and Jew survivor of Nazi Germany had long warned us about the “perils of indifference”. It is refreshing the world had risen in unison to condemn President Trump for reinventing violence in Jerusalem and almost putting on hold the peace process in the Middle East.  According to Pope Francis, Jerusalem’s status should be preserved and needless conflict avoided. At his weekly general audience at the Vatican, Pope Francis observed with “…a heartfelt appeal to ensure that everyone is committed to respecting the status quo of the city, in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the United Nations.”

    “Jerusalem is a unique city,” he added, “is sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, where the Holy Places for the respective religions are venerated, and it has a special vocation to peace.”

    To Secretary General of United Nations, Antonio Guterres, “Jerusalem is a final-status issue that must be resolved through direct negotiations between the two parties on the basis of the relevant Security Council and General Assembly resolutions, taking into account the legitimate concerns of both the Palestinian and the Israeli sides”. “In this moment of great anxiety, I want to make it clear: There is no alternative to the two-state solution,” he said. “There is no Plan B.”!

    Only Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who hopes to politically profit from domestic Palestinian red-hearing, (just like Trump!) hailed Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Most peace loving Israelis are not as excited as Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump. For instance, notable Israeli politicians such as Meretz leader Zehava Gal-On, a serving member of Knesset from 1999 to 2017 observed that moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem could inflame the entire region. She warned that such a unilateral move could displace peace. “Moving the embassy could serve Netanyahu but could bring about an unnecessary explosion.”

    Ayam  Odeh, Chairman of the Joint List, said: “Trump is a pyromaniac who could set the entire region on fire with his madness” adding that Trump’s  grandstanding  “proves decisively that the United States cannot remain the sponsor or arbitrator in negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians”. The African Union Commission also rightly questioned the United States’ decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel. The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, noted with deep concern the decision. According to AU, the decision “will only increase tensions in the region and beyond and further complicate the search for a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” He reiterated the 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. The chairperson spoke the mind of Africans in calling for a Middle East solution, “based on the existence of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side-by-side in peace and security, within the framework of relevant African Union and United Nations pronouncements.”

    It is really true that bad friends like Trump will prevent Israel from having good friends. By the way, I searched in vain for Nigeria’s position on the latest Donald Trump’s diplomatic reckless adventure in Jerusalem. It’s time President Muhammed Buhari worked his talk at the 2017 UN General Assembly in September on key foreign policy issues such as Middle East crisis. Increasingly, Nigeria’s voice is lost on topical international issues. At best Nigerian foreign policy has become reactionary, reacting than setting agenda for genuine global discourse.

    Lest we forget – the late Nelson Mandela rightly observed that “We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.”

     

    • Aremu is a member, National Institute, Kuru Jos.
  • White House aide resigns

    White House aide resigns

    Omarosa Newman, a former reality television star-turned political aide to U.S. President Donald Trump, has resigned from the White House to “pursue other opportunities,” Trump’s spokeswoman, Sarah Sanders, said on Wednesday.

    Newman served as an Assistant to the president and Director of Communications for the White House’s Office of Public Liaison.

    A former star of Trump’s TV show “The Apprentice,” Newman worked as the Director of African-American outreach on Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

    Sanders said Newman’s departure would take effect Jan. 20, 2018.

    Read Also: Trump to recognize Jerusalem as Israel capital

    She had what sometimes appeared to be an ambiguous role in the White House orbit.

    The New York Times reported in September that Chief of Staff, John Kelly, had put her on a “no-fly list” of aides, who he did not consider fit to attend serious meetings.

    Sources with ties to the White House have said they expect a wave of departures from the administration once Trump has completed his first year in office.

  • EU rejects Trump’s Jerusalem move

    EU rejects Trump’s Jerusalem move

    EU foreign ministers on Monday in Brussels rejected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request to join the U.S. in recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

    Early, Netanyahu had asked the EU to ask allies to join the U.S. in Jerusalem move, but was met by a firm rebuff from EU foreign ministers who saw the move as a blow against the peace process.

    Making his first ever visit to EU headquarters in Brussels, Netanyahu said President Donald Trump’s move made peace in the Middle East possible “because recognising reality is the substance of peace, the foundation of peace.”

    Trump announced on Dec. 6 that the U.S. would recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, breaking with decades of U.S. policy and international consensus that the ancient city’s status must be decided in Israeli-Palestinian talks.

    Israel, which annexed East Jerusalem after capturing it in a 1967 war, considers the entire city to be its capital while Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future independent state.

    The Trump administration says it remains committed to the peace process and its decision does not affect Jerusalem’s future borders or status.

    It says any credible future peace deal will place the Israeli capital in Jerusalem, and ditching old policies is needed to revive a peace process frozen since 2014.

    Israel’s closest European allies have rejected that logic and say recognising Israel’s capital unilaterally risks inflaming violence and further wrecking the chance for peace.

    After a breakfast meeting between Netanyahu and EU foreign ministers, Sweden’s top diplomat said no European at the closed-door meeting had voiced support for Trump’s decision, and no country was likely to follow the U.S. in announcing plans to move its embassy.

    “I have a hard time seeing that any other country would do that and I don’t think any other EU country will do it,” Margot Wallstrom said.

    Several EU foreign ministers arriving at the meeting reiterated the bloc’s position that lands Israel has occupied since the 1967 war, including East Jerusalem as well as the West Bank and Golan Heights, are not within Israel’s borders.

    Israel’s position does appear to have more support from some EU states than others.

    On Friday, the Czech foreign ministry said it would begin considering moving the Czech Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, while Hungary blocked a planned EU statement condemning the U.S. move.

    Prague later said it accepted Israel’s sovereignty only over West Jerusalem, and Budapest said its long-term position seeking a two-state solution in the Middle East had not changed.

    On Monday, Czech Foreign Minister, Lubomir Zaoralek, said of Trump’s decision: “I‘m afraid it can’t help us.”

    “I‘m convinced that it is impossible to ease tension with a unilateral solution,” Zaoralek said.

    “We are talking about an Israeli state but at the same time we have to speak about a Palestinian state.”

    Trump’s announcement triggered days of protests across the Muslim world and clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem in which scores of Palestinians were wounded and several killed.

    By Monday morning, violence appeared to have subsided.

    Netanyahu, who has been angered by the EU’s search for closer business ties with Iran, said Europeans should emulate Trump’s move and press the Palestinians to do so too.

    “It’s time that the Palestinians recognise the Jewish state and also recognise the fact that it has a capital.
    It’s called Jerusalem,” he said.

    The decision to recognize Jerusalem could also strain Washington’s ties with its other main Muslim ally in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, which has sought closer relations with Washington under Trump than under his predecessor Barack Obama.

    Saudi Arabia shares U.S. and Israeli concerns about the increasing regional influence of Iran, and was seen as a potential broker for a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace deal.

    Saudis have suggested that unilateral decisions over Jerusalem make any such rapprochement more difficult.

    Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former Saudi ambassador to the U.S. and veteran ex-security chief, published a strongly-worded open letter to Trump on Monday denouncing the Jerusalem move.

  • U.S. tasks Saudi on regional policy

    U.S. tasks Saudi on regional policy

    Saudi Arabia should be “more measured and a bit more thoughtful’’ in its handling of conflicts in the Middle East, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Friday in an unusually blunt criticism of the historic U.S. ally.

    Tillerson criticised Riyadh’s handling of conflicts in Yemen and relations with Lebanon and Qatar, and repeated U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for Riyadh to end its blockade of Yemen.

    “I think in respect to Saudi Arabia’s engagement with Qatar, how they’re handling the Yemen war that they’re engaged in, the Lebanon situation.

    “We would encourage them to be a bit more measured and a bit more thoughtful in those action, to, I think, fully consider the consequences,’’ Tillerson said.

    Saudi Arabia has taken an increasingly active stance in the region, trying to face down allies of rival power Iran, since Crown Prince Mohammed Salman became the power behind the throne.

    It is leading a military coalition in Yemen against Houthi rebels and has cut relations and trade links with neighbouring Qatar, which supports Islamist movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood that Riyadh views with suspicion.

    But Tillerson, speaking in Paris after a meeting with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian, had warmer words for the King’s programme of domestic reforms.

    “The U.S. strongly supports the reforms that are being undertaken in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

    “We think they’re important for the future of Saudi Arabia, in terms of not just its stability but also its prosperity for the future,’’ he said.

    NAN

  • Trump to undergo physical examination early 2018

    Trump to undergo physical examination early 2018

    The White House has said that U.S. President Donald Trump will undergo a physical examination while promising to allow the results to be released.

    Trump will be examined by a doctor at Walter Reed, a military medical center, “scheduled for the first part of 2018,” said White House press secretary Sarah Sanders.

    “Those records will be released by the doctor following that taking place,” she added.

    Sanders’s announcement came a day after Trump appeared to get a dry mouth and slurred his words when delivering remarks on Wednesday, leading to questions about the president’s health.

    “There were a lot of questions on that, frankly pretty ridiculous questions,” Sanders said.

    “The president’s throat was dry. Nothing more than that.”

    Trump’s predecessors typically underwent annual physical examinations with a military doctor and had details of their examination results released to the public.

    It is the first time that the White House has committed to releasing medical records about Trump’s health. Trump, 71, is the oldest U.S. president at this point in his tenure.

    In 2016, Trump released a clean bill of health but some pointed out that the record lacked details and had an over-the-top portrait of the president’s health condition.(Xinhua/NAN)

  • UAE urges Arabs, Muslims to unite over U.S decision on Jerusalem

    UAE urges Arabs, Muslims to unite over U.S decision on Jerusalem

    The United Arab Emirates ( UAE ) on Thursday urged the Arab and Islamic countries to unite and demonstrate a “common position” over the United States recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

    The UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Anwar Gargash, made the call on twitter, warning that the Arab and Islamic world is facing a “serious challenge” as U.S President, Donald Trump, announced the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

    He noted that a “common position and hard work” are necessary to “achieve results” instead of “deepening the wounds.”

    The UAE does not recognise the state of Israel.

    However, Israel has a presence at the International Renewable Energy Agency in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi, as it is one of the 180 member states of IRENA whose headquarters are based in Abu Dhabi.

    Trump announced Wednesday his official recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and ordered the movement of the U.S embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move that triggered wide criticism and concerns around the world.

    Trump said in a televised speech that his decision is based on The Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995, a public law of the U.S passed by the 104th Congress on October 23, 1995.

    NAN

     

     

  • Global outcry trails U.S recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital

    Global outcry trails U.S recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital

    Traditional United States allies are among a growing chorus condemning President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

    Saudi Arabia called it “unjustified and irresponsible,” while France and the United Kingdom said they did not support the decision.

    But Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, hailed it as “a historic day,” the BBC reports.

    President Trump’s move reversed decades of U.S policy.

    The fate of Jerusalem is one of the thorniest issues between Israel and the Palestinians.

    Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, denounced Trump’s move as “deplorable.”

    Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are expected to hold a day of strikes and protests on Thursday.

    The United Nations Security Council is to discuss the issue on Friday after eight of the 15 nations called for an emergency session.

    The Arab League is to meet on Saturday.

    The U.S President said on Wednesday he had “judged this course of action to be in the best interests of the United States of America, and the pursuit of peace between Israel and the Palestinians.”

    Read Also: Trump to recognize Jerusalem as Israel capital

    Trump said he was directing the U.S state department to begin preparations to move the U.S embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

    Despite warnings of regional unrest over any such move, the decision fulfils a campaign promise and appeals to Mr. Trump’s right-wing base.

    “Today, I am delivering,” the U.S leader said.

    Recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital was “nothing more or less than a recognition of reality,” he added. “It is also the right thing to do.”

    He said the U.S still supported a two-state solution to the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict, if approved by both sides, which would essentially see the creation of an independent Palestinian state living alongside Israel.

  • Trump to recognize Jerusalem as Israel capital

    Trump to recognize Jerusalem as Israel capital

    President Donald Trump on Wednesday will recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and set in motion the relocation of the U.S. Embassy to the ancient city, senior U.S. officials said.

    The decision would upend decades of U.S. policy and risks fueling violence in the Middle East.

    Facing an outcry of opposition from Arab capitals, Trump, in a landmark speech, will announce he has ordered the State Department to begin developing a plan to move the embassy from Tel Aviv in what is expected to be a process that takes three to four years, the officials said.

    He will not set a timetable for the move.

    Trump will sign a national security waiver that authorizes him to delay the embassy relocation for now, since the U.S. diplomats do not yet have a building in Jerusalem to move into, security arrangements or housing for diplomats, the officials said.

    Still, Trump’s endorsement of Israel’s claim to all of Jerusalem as its capital would reverse long-standing U.S. policy that the city’s status must be decided in negotiations with the Palestinians.

    The Palestinian wants East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

    The international community does not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the entire city, home to sites holy to the Muslim, Jewish and Christian religions.

    The officials, who briefed reporters ahead of Trump’s speech at 1 p.m. EST (1800 GMT) on Wednesday, insisted that Trump’s decision, intended to fulfill a key campaign promise.

    The officials said it was not meant to pre-judge the outcome of eventual talks on the final status of Jerusalem or other major disputes between the two sides.

    Instead, one of the officials contended that Trump’s announcements reflected the “historic reality” of Jerusalem as the center of Jewish faith and the “modern reality” that it is the seat of Israeli government.

    Such arguments are not likely to sway the Palestinians and the broader Arab world.

    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Jordan’s King Abdullah, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, all received telephone calls from Trump on Tuesday.

    They, however, joined a mounting chorus of voices warning that unilateral U.S. steps on Jerusalem would derail a fledgling U.S.-led peace effort that has stymied previous U.S. administrations and unleash turmoil in the region.

    The White House said Trump had also spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a close U.S. ally and longtime proponent of a U.S. embassy move to Jerusalem.

    Netanyahu was the only leader whose office did not release a statement following the call.

    A senior Israeli minister welcomed Trump’s decision while vowing that Israel would be prepared for any outbreak of violence.

    Trump appears intent on satisfying the pro-Israel, right-wing base, including evangelical Christians, that helped him win the presidency but was disappointed when he delayed the embassy move in June.

    No other country has its embassy in Jerusalem.

    Israel captured Arab East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed it, an action not recognized internationally.

    But Trump’s decision could also upset the peace effort led by his son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, in pursuit of what the U.S. president has called the “ultimate deal”.

    Still, internal deliberations over the status of Jerusalem were tense.

    Vice President Mike Pence and David Friedman, U.S. ambassador to Israel, pushed hard for both recognition and embassy relocation.

    Meanwhile, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis opposed the move from Tel Aviv, according to other U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

    An impatient Trump finally weighed in, telling aides last week he wanted to keep his campaign promise.

    Read Also: Melania Trump highlights tradition in White House Christmas decor

  • Ex-Twitter worker claims responsibility for Trump’s account shutdown

    Ex-Twitter worker claims responsibility for Trump’s account shutdown

    A German man has come forward as the former Twitter Inc employee who shut down the account of U.S. President Donald Trump for 11 minutes this month on his last day of work at the social network.

    The technology news website TechCrunch published an interview on Wednesday with Bahtiyar Duysak, whom it called a 20-something with Turkish roots who was born and raised in Germany.

    The website said he was a temporary contract worker in San Francisco for Twitter.

    Duysak, who had not previously been identified as the person behind the takedown, told TechCrunch that he considered Trump’s temporary silencing a “mistake” and never thought the account would get deactivated.

    He said it was not a planned act.

    Rather, he said, the chance to shutter the account fell into his lap near the end of his scheduled final shift, and he decided to take it.

    “There are millions of people who would take actions against him if they had the possibility.

    “In my case, it was just random,” Duysak said in a video of the interview posted online. He wore a gray sweater emblazoned with the American flag.

    Twitter on Wednesday would not confirm whether Duysak was the ex-employee in question or answer other questions. Reuters could not immediately reach Duysak.

    BuzzFeed News, citing two anonymous sources, reported separately that Duysak was the ex-employee responsible.

    Duysak is a former volunteer security guard at a Muslim community center in California, BuzzFeed reported.

    Trump has been critical of Muslims, calling during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign for a “total and complete shutdown” of Muslims entering the United States.

    The takedown of Trump’s account on Nov. 2 sparked concerns among Twitter users over how much power employees have over sensitive accounts and whether abuse of their power could lead to international incidents.

    Twitter said in a statement on Wednesday: “We have taken a number of steps to keep an incident like this from happening again.”

    He said Duysak did not shed much light on the incident. Near the end of his last day at the San Francisco-based company, an alert came to him that someone had reported Trump’s account for an unspecified violation.

    Duysak put the wheels in motion to deactivate it, TechCrunch said, although the account did not go offline until hours later.

    Neither Duysak nor TechCrunch explained the delay.

    “I didn’t hack anyone. I didn’t do anything which I wasn’t authorised to do,” he said.

    Reuters/NAN

  • U.S. threatens action against S. Sudan if it does not end violence

    U.S. threatens action against S. Sudan if it does not end violence

    The U.S. threatened to take further action against the South Sudan government if it does not end violence and allow United Nation ( UN ) peacekeepers to do their job.

    A month after U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley visited South Sudan and met with President Salva Kiir in the capital Juba, she told the Security Council: “Words are no longer sufficient.”

    “The U.S. is prepared to pursue additional measures against the government – or any party, for that matter – if they do not act to end the violence and ease the suffering in South Sudan,” said Haley, who was the most senior member of President Donald Trump’s administration to visit South Sudan.

    The Trump administration imposed sanctions in September on two senior South Sudanese officials and the former army chief for their role in the civil war and attacks against civilians.

    However, any U.S. push for the UN Security Council to take further action against South Sudan is likely to be resisted by veto power Russia.

    The council sanctioned several senior South Sudanese officials on both sides of the conflict in 2015, but a U.S. bid to impose an arms embargo in December 2016 failed.

    “It is counterproductive to impose targeted sanctions, counterproductive to impose an arms embargo, such measures will not help to break this deadlock and will only further exacerbate the crisis,” Russia’s Deputy UN Ambassador Petr Iliichev.

    South Sudan spiraled into civil war in late 2013, two years after gaining independence from Sudan, and a third of the 12 million population has fled their homes.

    The conflict was sparked by a feud between Kiir, a Dinka, and his former deputy Riek Machar, a Nuer, who is being held in South Africa.

    A fragile peace deal in South Sudan broke down last year and East African bloc IGAD has been trying to revive it.

    “We view as unjust the ongoing attempts to place all blame for the persistent unabated violence on Juba alone, it has done its role, now the opposition must reciprocate,” Iliichev said.

    UN sanctions monitors reported earlier this month that inspite of the catastrophic conditions across South Sudan, armed forces, groups and militias, particularly those affiliated with Kiir and Vice President Taban Gai, continued to “actively impede both humanitarian and peacekeeping operations.”

    Reuters/NAN