Palestinians seeking new peace broker, as Anti-Trump protest flares in Beirut, elsewhere

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Protesters are seen near the U.S. embassy in Awkar, in Beirut, Lebanon December 10, 2017. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Protesters are seen near the U.S. embassy in Awkar, in Beirut, Lebanon December 10, 2017. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

Beirut-  A Palestinian stabbed an Israeli security guard at Jerusalem’s main bus station on Sunday, police said, and violence flared near the U.S. Embassy in Beirut over U.S. President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Four days of street protests in the Palestinian territories over Trump’s announcement on Wednesday have largely died down, but his overturning of long-standing U.S. policy on Jerusalem — a city holy to Jews, Muslims and Christians — drew more Arab warnings of potential damage to prospects for Middle East peace.

“Our hope is that everything is calming down and that we are returning to a path of normal life without riots and without violence,” Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Army Radio.

 Lebanese security forces fired tear gas and water canons at protesters near the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon on Sunday during a demonstration against President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Reuters
Lebanese security forces fired tear gas and water canons at protesters near the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon on Sunday during a demonstration against President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Reuters

But in Jerusalem, a security guard was in critical condition after a 24-year-old Palestinian man from the occupied West Bank stabbed him after approaching a metal detector at an entrance to the city’s central bus station, police said. The alleged assailant was taken into custody after a passer-by tackled him.

In Beirut, meanwhile, Lebanese security forces fired tear gas and water canons at protesters, some of them waving Palestinian flags, near the U.S. Embassy.

Demonstrators set fires in the street, torched U.S. and Israeli flags and threw projectiles towards security forces that had barricaded the main road to the complex.

In public remarks on Sunday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, a frequent critic of Israel, called it an “invader state” and a “terror state”.

Most countries consider East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed after capturing it in a 1967 war, to be occupied territory and say the status of the city should be decided at future Israeli-Palestinian talks. Israel says that all of Jerusalem is its capital, while Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future independent state.

Arab foreign ministers who met in Cairo on Saturday urged the United States to abandon its decision on Jerusalem and said the move would spur violence throughout the region.

Echoing that view, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahayan, the de facto leader of the United Arab Emirates, said the U.S. move “could throw a lifebuoy to terrorist and armed groups, which have begun to lose ground” in the Middle East.

GAZA TUNNEL

Along Israel’s tense frontier with the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military on Sunday destroyed what it described as a “significant” cross-border attack tunnel dug by the enclave’s dominant Islamist group, Hamas.

There was no immediate comment from Hamas on the demolition, which came as Palestinian factions tried to meet Sunday’s deadline for an Egyptian-mediated handover of Gaza by Hamas to Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas after a decade’s schism.

Pre-dawn Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip on Saturday killed two Palestinian gunmen after militants fired rockets from the area into Israel on Friday.

In the Indonesian capital Jakarta on Sunday, thousands protested outside the U.S. embassy, many waving banners saying “Palestine is in our hearts”.

A Palestinian protester hurls stones towards Israeli security forces during clashes near the border between Israel and central Gaza Strip
A Palestinian protester hurls stones towards Israeli security forces during clashes near the border between Israel and central Gaza Strip

Leaders in Indonesia, home to the world’s largest Muslim population, have joined a global chorus of condemnation of Trump’s announcement, including from Western allies.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted to critics in a statement before talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Sunday, to be followed by a meeting with European foreign ministers in Brussels.

“I hear (from Europe) voices of condemnation over President Trump’s historic announcement, but I have not heard any condemnation for the rocket firing against Israel that has come (after the announcement) and the awful incitement against us,” Netanyahu said.

The Trump administration has said it is still committed to reviving Palestinian-Israeli talks that collapsed in 2014, and jettisoning old policies is necessary to break the deadlock.

It said Israel’s capital would be in Jerusalem under any serious peace plan, and it has not taken a position with regard to the city’s borders.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki has said the Palestinians will be looking for a new peace talks broker instead of the United States and would seek a United Nations Security Council resolution over Trump’s decision.

 

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14 responses to “Palestinians seeking new peace broker, as Anti-Trump protest flares in Beirut, elsewhere”

  1. Peace broker? Did the PaliArabs ever consider themselves as peace brokers or are they simply not qualified to negotiate?

  2. Trump! you’re fired. The WORLD has spoken…

    1. Rainbow Sponge Avatar
      Rainbow Sponge

      Lindsay Lohan for President

      1. I vote for Mia Khalifa!

        1. Rainbow Sponge Avatar
          Rainbow Sponge

          P.S. do you think that villa has a swimming pool in the back garden? I’ve always wanted to go swimming on stolen land 🙂

          1. Don’t think so, but you can always ask to use one of the bathrooms 🙂

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji4dBBTvBqk

          2. Rainbow Sponge Avatar
            Rainbow Sponge

            He should have asked, “where’s the nearest swimming pool”? 🙂

          3. Little Britain rules!

          4. Rainbow Sponge Avatar
            Rainbow Sponge

            Loved it back in the day. These days I mostly watch The Real Housewives of New York City.

          5. I watch “The Walking Dead,” “Mr. Robot” and “The Last Man on Earth.” “Shameless” is also good. 🙂

    2. Complacency requires a kick in the rearend every now and then. Trump just provided the kick. So now what is the world going to do now. See the results of Arab anger, listen to Arab whining or perhaps some Arab compromise. You have bragged about being an owner of a business with 80 employees, haven’t you ever stirred the pot occasionally?

  3. Danny Farah Avatar
    Danny Farah

    The protesters in Lebanon were attacking security forces and that’s not peaceful. Those attackers must be punished so it will not be repeated again.

  4. “Palestinians seeking new peace broker”

    They are always welcome to turn to Maduro for help. And Mugabe is in between jobs right now, how about asking him? 🙂

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