Turkey is to open an embassy in East Jerusalem, in a symbolic response to Donald Trump’s decision to break with decades of American foreign policy and recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Trump’s annoucement sparked demonstrations across the Muslim world, with protests in Amman, Rabat, Beirut, Cairo, Lahore and Jakarta. Four Palestinians were killed in violent clashes with Israeli security forces in the West Bank and Gaza over the weekend and the leaders of Hamas called for Muslims to rise up in a new intifada.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Erdogan last week chaired a summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, “seeking to steer often disunited Muslim nations into a coordinated response on the changed US policy,” The Times of Israel says.
The meeting brought together 57 Muslim leaders to sign a declaration denouncing Trump’s decision and calling for the world to recognise Arab East Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state.
Speaking at the meeting, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the US had relinquished it right to act as Middle East peace broker, given its “evident bias” in favour of Israel.
Trump’s decision angered many of his international allies, including France, Germany, UK and Saudi Arabia. The EU has already confirmed it will not be following the US lead and, according to a draft resolution obtained by Reuters, the UN Security Council is now considering whether to render all decisions about the status of Jerusalem null and void.
The one-page document, drafted by Egypt, would rescind such decisions and demand that “all states comply with Security Council resolutions regarding the Holy City of Jerusalem”. It also instructs member states not to establish diplomatic missions in Jerusalem, the status of which should remain a “final status issue” to be negotiated between the Israelis and Palestinians.
However, while the draft has broad support in the 15-seat council and would probably get the majority of votes, it will almost certainly be vetoed by the US.
-
The best fanfic that got published and went mainstreamThe Week Recommends Fan fiction websites are a treasure trove of future darlings of publishing
-
‘Something close to a universal rallying cry’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump sues IRS for $10B over tax record leaksSpeed Read The president is claiming ‘reputational and financial harm’ from leaks of his tax information between 2018 and 2020
-
Israel retrieves final hostage’s body from GazaSpeed Read The 24-year-old police officer was killed during the initial Hamas attack
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
-
Ukraine, US and Russia: do rare trilateral talks mean peace is possible?Rush to meet signals potential agreement but scepticism of Russian motives remain
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Trump backs off Greenland threats, declares ‘deal’Speed Read Trump and NATO have ‘formed the framework for a future deal,’ the president claimed
-
Iran in flames: will the regime be toppled?In Depth The moral case for removing the ayatollahs is clear, but what a post-regime Iran would look like is anything but
-
Europe moves troops to Greenland as Trump fixatesSpeed Read Foreign ministers of Greenland and Denmark met at the White House yesterday
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
