Anti-Trump protests flare up

JERUSALEM: A Palestinian stabbed an Israeli security guard at Jerusalem’s main bus station as violence flared up against US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas visited Cairo for crisis talks. As criticism of Trump’s decision mounted, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks with EU foreign ministers in Brussels where he urged the European Union to follow US President Donald Trump’s lead and recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, but EU ministers shook their heads at Trump’s move. Even Israel’s closest European allies such as the Czech Republic warned Trump’s decision was bad for peace efforts, while France insisted Jerusalem’s status could only be agreed in a final deal between Israelis and Palestinians. Asked by reporters about Trump’s decision to switch the US Embassy to Jerusalem, Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek said: “I’m afraid it can’t help us.

Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital will hasten the country’s destruction, Iran’s defence minister said Monday.“Trump’s step will hasten the destruction of the Zionist regime and will double the unity of Muslims,” Iran’s defence minister, Brigadier General Amir Hatami, said on Monday, according to state media. The army’s chief of staff, General Mohammad Baqeri, said Trump’s “foolish move” could be seen as the beginning of a new intifada, or Palestinian uprising.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday stepped up efforts to rally Middle Eastern countries against US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, which EU foreign ministers meanwhile declined to support. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday the United States’ decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital had made Washington complicit in violence.

His comments on the US move have strained fragile relations between Turkey and Israel, which only restored ties last year following a six-year diplomatic rift. Erdogan, a frequent critic of Israel, has said the decision by US President Donald Trump will spark violence in the region. “The ones who made Jerusalem a dungeon for Muslims and members of other religions will never be able to clean the blood from their hands,” Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara.