Be Warned: This Blood Is On Your Hands.

“If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck”.

In the month of December 1949, Israel’s first Prime Minister, the late David Ben-Gurion, declared Jerusalem shall be the capital city of the newly re-established Jewish State, stating that “for the State of Israel there has always been and always will be one capital only - Jerusalem the Eternal. Thus it was 3,000 years ago - and thus it will be, we believe, until the end of time”. Consequently, Israel’s Parliament, the Knesset, resolved that after the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah 1949 it would renew its sessions in Jerusalem and in the following months most of the government offices were moved to Jerusalem, the capital of Israel.

In his speech on December 6, 2017 stated, U.S. President Trump as follows: “Today, Jerusalem is the seat of the modern Israeli government. It is the home of the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, as well as the Israeli Supreme Court. It is the location of the official residence of the prime minister and the president. It is the headquarters of many government ministries. For decades, visiting American presidents, secretaries of State and military leaders have met their Israeli counterparts in Jerusalem, as I did on my trip to Israel earlier this year.”

There you have it: for years the world observed the Jerusalmite duck, watched it as it swam, listened as it quacked, and chose to negate the duck’s right for its own identity, choosing to ignore the obvious. Yet, it wasn't only the West that de-facto acknowledged Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. In 2011 it was none other than Al-Jazeerah T.V. which came out with a major piece of news: in the course of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, the Palestinians themselves not only accepted Israel’sl presence in West Jerusalem, but also conceded parts of East Jerusalem to Israeli control.

And yet, even though U.S. Administration announced the obvious, the commotion around the world was ear-deafening. Condemnations and end-of-world warnings came from all over, as one pundit after the other appeared on major media outlets and huffed and puffed at the move. One major criticism of the declaration claimed that it contradicted the vision of the Oslo Accords, which were signed in the mid 90s, and stated all ‘final status’ issues will be negotiated directly between the parties. Those issues include Jerusalem, the refugees, Israeli settlements and final border. Therefore, there is every reason to be upset about President Trump’s statement, which undermined the above. Right? WRONG!

For here we should ask ourselves as follows: at the end of 2016, during the very last days of the former U.S. administration, the U.N. Security Council adopted resolution 2334, which criticized Israel’s Settlements claiming they “Constitute Flagrant Violation of International Law”. The resolution passed with the quiet support of the U.S., Israel’s one major ally in the world, in a move which won wall to wall applause in the room and is still painfully remembered by many Israelis as a hurtful blow to the alliance between Israel and the U.S. And there you have it: the Jerusalem declaration was not the first time “final status” issues were addressed before the parties could negotiate them, but it seems that when the move criticized Israel, it won the support and accolades of the world, yet when it is israel which is the beneficiary of justice, it is the subject of world condemnations and doomsday warnings. It is nothing but hypocrisy to the core.

Moreover, many were those who warned of “impending violence” if the U.S dares to recognize Jerusalem as the capital city of Israel. The Arab League and the Palestinians themselves advised the United States against the move, arguing it would “spark a new wave of violence” in the region and chose to follow up on their threats and called for “3 days of rage” in Gaza and the West Bank, as Hamas and Hezbollah go as far as calling for a new “Intifada”, bloodshed for those who are not familiar with the true meaning of this call.

Indeed, a resolution was made that the Palestinians do not like. But is violence the answer? Are Palestinians to be considered nothing but barrels of gun powder, ready to explode at any moment, if something happens they do not like? And are we all destined to be hostages of Palestinian mood-swings? Isn't Palestinian goal an independent state? And if so, shouldn't we ask that sovereignty come with responsibility and accountability? That statehood comes with the ability to govern? For if Palestinians lack that simple characteristic of a state, what is the purpose of negotiations? Did Israel start a round of violence and called for “days of rage” when it was betrayed on world stage with resolution 2334? Yes, Israel was and still is upset with that one-sided unilateral and unhelpful move, but being a state of law and order that it is, it was able to cope with it diplomatically and manage its foreign policy accordingly.

And here is the most important point: by sounding the alarm and “warning” of this impending wave of violence, without outrightly denouncing it - making it clear that it is UNACCEPTABLE - the world is making a conscious and (im)moral choice to de-facto LEGITIMIZE it, by giving it pre-approval. That is to say, if anything happens, “it’s your fault, since we told you so”.

Lets make it abundantly clear, here and now: the only people to blame for violence are those who perpetrate it! Palestinians should be forewarned - not encouraged - that any act of terror on their side, shall be met with not only verbal condemnations but also concrete steps to punish the guilty parties. Happy or not, terror is not the answer and cannot be perceived as such, nor can we sit idly by while threats of violence are thrown into the air, unanswered.

Remember: “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil”.