Monday, May 14, 2018

Who could have predicted?


Israeli forces have killed 16 Palestinians and wounded at least 200 in Gaza, health officials said, as troops fired shots at residents rallying against the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem later on Monday.

[...]

Naftali Bennett, Israel’s education minister, told Israel Radio that anyone who approached the fence would be considered a terrorist. A foreign ministry spokesman labelled protesters “murderous rioters”.

No Israeli has been harmed since gatherings began on 30 March.

[...]

Tens of thousands turned out at locations across the coastal enclave despite warnings from the Israeli military that Palestinians risked their lives by taking part.

[...]

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said at a reception on Sunday evening that Jerusalem had been “the capital of the Jewish people for the past 3,000 years”.

He added: “It’s been the capital of our state for the past 70 years. It will remain our capital for all time.” The opening of the embassy falls on the 70th anniversary of Israel’s declaration of independence.

Palestinians, however, see the scheduling as an insult. This week they mark the “Nakba”, or catastrophe, commemorating the more than 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their homes in the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation.

[...]

To international condemnation, Israeli snipers have killed dozens and wounded more than 1,700 when firing on demonstrators in past rallies, according to Gaza’s ministry of health.

[...]

The holy city has been one of the most contentious issues in past negotiations, and broad international consensus has been that its status will be settled under a peace deal, although Trump has said Jerusalem is now “off the table”.

  Guardian
Then so is a peace deal.

Also, why did he send Ivanka and Jared and not, say, the Secretary of State? Aren't the embassies in the State Department?

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