Apparently the Obama Administration and their friends the Palestinians are upset over Governor Mitt Romney's pledge to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and to move the U.S. embassy there 'when ever the Israelis are ready' :
The Obama White House and the Palestinian Authority this week expressed dissatisfaction, frustration and anger over Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney's very public recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
The Obama White House and the Palestinian Authority this week expressed dissatisfaction, frustration and anger over Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney's very public recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
In an address to Israeli leaders and international donors in Jerusalem on Sunday, Romney clearly identified the city as "the capital of Israel."
It was a stark break from US presidential policy dating back over 15 years, and an indication that should he win the White House in November, Romney will finally approve a 1995 congressional decision to move America's embassy to Jerusalem.
The current American administration was not amused.
"Some people are scratching their heads a bit" over Romney's remarks, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters, noting that the Republican candidate is defying a position "that’s been held by previous administrations, both Democratic and Republican. So if Mr. Romney disagrees with that position, he’s also disagreeing with the position that was taken by Presidents like Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan."
The Palestinians were far more vehement in their rejection of Romney's remarks.
"Even if this statement is within the US election campaign, it is unacceptable and we completely reject it. The US election campaign should never be at the expense of the Palestinians,” chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told the BBC. “Romney is rewarding occupation, settlement and extremism in the region with such declarations."
The White House spokesperson is, as usual, truth challenged.
While presidents make policy, Congress makes law. And presidents must follow US law.Starting with Bill Clinton, all presidents made pledges to move the Embassy in accordance with US law, but all reneged, citing 'national security concerns'. Reagan and George HW Bush never had a really concrete position on Jerusalem, since Congress had not passed the law during their terms.
Obama has doubled down on this, actually telling Jews they have no right to their Holy sites and making even building in any part of Jerusalem an issue in a way NO president ever did before.Not only that, but Obama's Attorney General even filed legal briefs against the plaintiffs in a case before the US Supreme Court where two parents whose child was born in Jerusalem want 'Jerusalem, Israel' on his birth certificate. No other country is treated this way.
So the stance of the Obama Administration is not 'the policy of the last 15 years'.It's something new they came up with, for reasons I think are obvious.
As far as what the 'Palestinians' think, who cares? Any semblance of a peace process is dead, and they're the ones who killed it. A judenrein East Jerusalem is not only morally wrong, but strategically ill advised, just as many of us said Gaza was. Since Hamas is bound to take over the 'Palestinian Authority' once Abbas and his crew (including Erekat) take the money they stole and leave for Europe, Jordan and the Emirates, no deal made with them means anything anyway.
If Governor Romney is serious about being willing to move the embassy and recognize the reality that Jerusalem is Israel's capital, more power to him.
It is the right and sensible thing to do.
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