02-23-2018, 10:41 PM
*** 24-Feb-18 World View -- US embassy to Jerusalem will commemorate Israel's founding -- Palestinian 'Naqba Day'
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** US will move its Israeli embassy to Jerusalem on May 14
****
![[Image: g180223b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g180223b.jpg)
US Consulate General in Jerusalem, to be used as interim embassy after May 14 (YNet)
The US State Dept. announced on Friday that the US will move its
official embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv on May 14,
commemorating the 70th anniversary of the founding of Israel. The
move had not been expected until the end of 2019, so this announcement
caught many Israelis and Palestinians by surprise.
Plans for a new US embassy building in Jerusalem are still a long way
off, so the May 14 move will be little more than symbolic. the
U.S. ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, along with a small staff,
will move on May 14 into an office building in Jerusalem housing the
current Consulate General in Jerusalem, making that building the new
interim embassy. The current embassy building in Tel Aviv will be
renamed the US Consulate, and will continue to house the bulk of the
U.S. diplomatic staff in Israel.
At the same time, a search will begin for the site of a new US embassy
building in Jerusalem. This search will be fraught with problems,
according to the opinion of an Israeli analyst forwarded to me by a
reader. The problems include the following:
YNet and Reuters and Newsweek
****
**** State Dept. considers accepting private donations to pay for the embassy
****
A big problem facing a new embassy building in Jerusalem is the cost,
expected to be into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
The State Department attorneys are looking into the legality of
accepting private donations to help pay for the construction of the
new embassy. The question is being discussed because Sheldon Adelson,
a pro-Israeli billionaire who has contributed tens of millions of
dollars to the Republican Party, has offered to pay for some or all of
the embassy costs.
Whether it's legal to allow one private individual to pay for the
building costs of an official government building is currently being
discussed, as it would be a significant departure from historical
practice. In one possible scenario, the administration would solicit
contributions not only from Adelson but potentially from other donors
in the evangelical Christian and American Jewish communities, too.
Allowing Adelson to contribute would also raise national and
international political issues in a situation where just the decision
to move the embassy has already proved highly controversial. It could
also raise new, unexpected issues. For example, would Adelson's name
be on the building? AP and VOX
****
**** Already furious Palestinians condemn embassy move on 'Naqba Day' -- 'Catastrophe Day'
****
Donald Trump's December announcement that the embassy would move from
Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, seeming to preclude having East Jerusalem as
the capital of a Palestinian state, has infuriated Palestinian
leaders, who said that the announcement proves that the US under
Donald Trump is not an honest mediator, but is clearly biased in
Israel's favor.
Saeb Erekat, the former Palestinian chief peace negotiator said last
month:
<QUOTE>"Jerusalem is not off the negotiations table, rather
the U.S. is outside the international consensus.
Those who say that Jerusalem is off the table are saying that
peace is off the table. The holy city is in the hearts of each and
every Palestinian, Arab, Christian and Muslim, and there will be
no peace without East Jerusalem being the sovereign capital of the
State of Palestine.
Trump could buy many things with his money, but he won’t be able
to buy the dignity of our nation."<END QUOTE>
With Friday's announcement moving up the date to May 14, an advisor to
Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas said:
<QUOTE>"We know the Americans are coordinating every step
with (Israeli President Benjamin) Netanyahu, but they do not do
the same with President Abbas. In the end this is not good for
peace, and no good for themselves, their own standing.
What we want is a clear statement that will allow the Palestinians
to have a state of their own, independent, within the 1967
borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital."<END QUOTE>
What is particularly infuriating to Palestinians is that May 14 is
"Naqba Day" -- the "Day of Catastrophe" -- the day that the
Palestinians commemorate every year for the founding of Israel.
Saeb Erekat said that the move is a violation of international law:
<QUOTE>"The American administration's decisions to recognize
Jerusalem as Israel's capital and choose the Palestinian people's
Naqba as the date for this step is a blatant violation of
international law. [The result will be] the destruction of the
two-state option, as well as a blatant provocation to all Arabs
and Muslims."<END QUOTE>
May 14, the Day of Catastrophe (Naqba) is an extremely bitter day
among Palestinians, not only because it was the day of Israel's
independence, but because the "catastrophe" refers to the Arabs'
catastrophic loss to the Jews in the Arab-Israeli War of 1948, a loss
that many Arabs blame on themselves.
According to Palestinian narratives, between 1947-49, Israelis
ethnically cleansed and destroyed about 530 Palestinian villages and
cities, and killed about 15,000 Palestinians in a series of mass
atrocities, leaving 750,000 Palestinians from a 1.9 million population
without a home.
Israelis respond that the clashes were launched by Arab Liberation
Army volunteers who attacked Jewish cities, settlements and armed
forces, followed by an invasion by Arab armies from Lebanon,
Transjordan, Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
However much Arabs are angry at Israelis for winning the war, many
Arabs are even more angry at Arab leaders of the time for losing the
war. Arab armies that attacked Israel expected an easy victory within
a day or two over a tiny, fledgling country that was not perceived as
a serious threat. They vastly underestimated the abilities of the
Jewish militias in Palestine, who were well-prepared and
well-organized and had many experienced fighters who had served in
units of the British Army during World War II.
But the strongest Arab condemnations of all are that the Arab armies
fought among themselves almost as much as they fought against the
Jews. While Arab leaders claimed to be fighting for Palestine, they
were actually fighting each other in a war of individual interests and
conflicting goals. The rivalries between the Arab militias and armies
contrasted with the much more unified Israeli militias and armies.
From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, the most important
factor to understand is that the 1948 war was a generational crisis
war for the Jews, but was an Awakening era war for the Arabs. World
War II was not a crisis war for the Arabs. In the Crisis era mood,
the Jews were extremely unified and nationalistic.
But the Arabs' previous generational crisis war was World War I and
the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Just as the United States fought
the Vietnam War half-heartedly during its Awakening era in the 1960s,
the Arabs fought the 1948 Arab-Israeli war half-heartedly in its
Awakening era. This generational timeline difference in public mood
appears to have been the major factor in the Israelis' victory over
the Arabs. Haaretz (25-Jan) and USA Today and Al-Jazeera and AFP and Al-Jazeera (13-Jul-2009)
Related Articles
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Israel, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, David Friedman,
Sheldon Adelson, Palestine, Naqba Day, Catastrophe Day,
Saeb Erekat, Mahmoud Abbas, Arab-Israeli war of 1948
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- US will move its Israeli embassy to Jerusalem on May 14
- State Dept. considers accepting private donations to pay for the embassy
- Already furious Palestinians condemn embassy move on 'Naqba Day' -- 'Catastrophe Day'
****
**** US will move its Israeli embassy to Jerusalem on May 14
****
US Consulate General in Jerusalem, to be used as interim embassy after May 14 (YNet)
The US State Dept. announced on Friday that the US will move its
official embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv on May 14,
commemorating the 70th anniversary of the founding of Israel. The
move had not been expected until the end of 2019, so this announcement
caught many Israelis and Palestinians by surprise.
Plans for a new US embassy building in Jerusalem are still a long way
off, so the May 14 move will be little more than symbolic. the
U.S. ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, along with a small staff,
will move on May 14 into an office building in Jerusalem housing the
current Consulate General in Jerusalem, making that building the new
interim embassy. The current embassy building in Tel Aviv will be
renamed the US Consulate, and will continue to house the bulk of the
U.S. diplomatic staff in Israel.
At the same time, a search will begin for the site of a new US embassy
building in Jerusalem. This search will be fraught with problems,
according to the opinion of an Israeli analyst forwarded to me by a
reader. The problems include the following:
- Jerusalem is a congested city with narrow streets,
criss-crossed by pedestrian paths and bike paths.
- A new embassy will be a monstrosity stretching out in several
rings of security, baffling traffic, forbidding parking, and inviting
one contentious demonstration after another. NIMBY (Not in my back
yard) will kick in early.
- Site selection will require approval of local, regional and
national planning authorities, and will be targeted by numerous
lawsuits.
- Digging in Jerusalem will almost certainly reveal valuable
archeological artifacts and buildings from centuries past, requiring
long delays for archeological analysis.
- Given the huge building costs and the equally huge political
compromises that will be required, the chances for corruption are
enormous.
- A change in government could derail the whole project.
YNet and Reuters and Newsweek
****
**** State Dept. considers accepting private donations to pay for the embassy
****
A big problem facing a new embassy building in Jerusalem is the cost,
expected to be into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
The State Department attorneys are looking into the legality of
accepting private donations to help pay for the construction of the
new embassy. The question is being discussed because Sheldon Adelson,
a pro-Israeli billionaire who has contributed tens of millions of
dollars to the Republican Party, has offered to pay for some or all of
the embassy costs.
Whether it's legal to allow one private individual to pay for the
building costs of an official government building is currently being
discussed, as it would be a significant departure from historical
practice. In one possible scenario, the administration would solicit
contributions not only from Adelson but potentially from other donors
in the evangelical Christian and American Jewish communities, too.
Allowing Adelson to contribute would also raise national and
international political issues in a situation where just the decision
to move the embassy has already proved highly controversial. It could
also raise new, unexpected issues. For example, would Adelson's name
be on the building? AP and VOX
****
**** Already furious Palestinians condemn embassy move on 'Naqba Day' -- 'Catastrophe Day'
****
Donald Trump's December announcement that the embassy would move from
Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, seeming to preclude having East Jerusalem as
the capital of a Palestinian state, has infuriated Palestinian
leaders, who said that the announcement proves that the US under
Donald Trump is not an honest mediator, but is clearly biased in
Israel's favor.
Saeb Erekat, the former Palestinian chief peace negotiator said last
month:
<QUOTE>"Jerusalem is not off the negotiations table, rather
the U.S. is outside the international consensus.
Those who say that Jerusalem is off the table are saying that
peace is off the table. The holy city is in the hearts of each and
every Palestinian, Arab, Christian and Muslim, and there will be
no peace without East Jerusalem being the sovereign capital of the
State of Palestine.
Trump could buy many things with his money, but he won’t be able
to buy the dignity of our nation."<END QUOTE>
With Friday's announcement moving up the date to May 14, an advisor to
Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas said:
<QUOTE>"We know the Americans are coordinating every step
with (Israeli President Benjamin) Netanyahu, but they do not do
the same with President Abbas. In the end this is not good for
peace, and no good for themselves, their own standing.
What we want is a clear statement that will allow the Palestinians
to have a state of their own, independent, within the 1967
borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital."<END QUOTE>
What is particularly infuriating to Palestinians is that May 14 is
"Naqba Day" -- the "Day of Catastrophe" -- the day that the
Palestinians commemorate every year for the founding of Israel.
Saeb Erekat said that the move is a violation of international law:
<QUOTE>"The American administration's decisions to recognize
Jerusalem as Israel's capital and choose the Palestinian people's
Naqba as the date for this step is a blatant violation of
international law. [The result will be] the destruction of the
two-state option, as well as a blatant provocation to all Arabs
and Muslims."<END QUOTE>
May 14, the Day of Catastrophe (Naqba) is an extremely bitter day
among Palestinians, not only because it was the day of Israel's
independence, but because the "catastrophe" refers to the Arabs'
catastrophic loss to the Jews in the Arab-Israeli War of 1948, a loss
that many Arabs blame on themselves.
According to Palestinian narratives, between 1947-49, Israelis
ethnically cleansed and destroyed about 530 Palestinian villages and
cities, and killed about 15,000 Palestinians in a series of mass
atrocities, leaving 750,000 Palestinians from a 1.9 million population
without a home.
Israelis respond that the clashes were launched by Arab Liberation
Army volunteers who attacked Jewish cities, settlements and armed
forces, followed by an invasion by Arab armies from Lebanon,
Transjordan, Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
However much Arabs are angry at Israelis for winning the war, many
Arabs are even more angry at Arab leaders of the time for losing the
war. Arab armies that attacked Israel expected an easy victory within
a day or two over a tiny, fledgling country that was not perceived as
a serious threat. They vastly underestimated the abilities of the
Jewish militias in Palestine, who were well-prepared and
well-organized and had many experienced fighters who had served in
units of the British Army during World War II.
But the strongest Arab condemnations of all are that the Arab armies
fought among themselves almost as much as they fought against the
Jews. While Arab leaders claimed to be fighting for Palestine, they
were actually fighting each other in a war of individual interests and
conflicting goals. The rivalries between the Arab militias and armies
contrasted with the much more unified Israeli militias and armies.
From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, the most important
factor to understand is that the 1948 war was a generational crisis
war for the Jews, but was an Awakening era war for the Arabs. World
War II was not a crisis war for the Arabs. In the Crisis era mood,
the Jews were extremely unified and nationalistic.
But the Arabs' previous generational crisis war was World War I and
the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Just as the United States fought
the Vietnam War half-heartedly during its Awakening era in the 1960s,
the Arabs fought the 1948 Arab-Israeli war half-heartedly in its
Awakening era. This generational timeline difference in public mood
appears to have been the major factor in the Israelis' victory over
the Arabs. Haaretz (25-Jan) and USA Today and Al-Jazeera and AFP and Al-Jazeera (13-Jul-2009)
Related Articles
- Protests fizzle 3 days after Trump's Jerusalem announcement was universally condemned (10-Dec-2017)
- With Arab world in chaos, Arab League summit displays lack of leadership and influence (30-Mar-2017)
- Palestinian 'Oslo Generation' relationship with Israel extremely toxic and explosive (18-Oct-2015)
- Palestinian leader Abbas expected to deliver ultimatum to Israel at UN (28-Sep-2015)
- Mideast Roadmap - Will it bring peace? (01-May-2003)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Israel, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, David Friedman,
Sheldon Adelson, Palestine, Naqba Day, Catastrophe Day,
Saeb Erekat, Mahmoud Abbas, Arab-Israeli war of 1948
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
