US ‘source of terror in region’: Israeli-Arab leader

By Eshat Firat and Turgut Alp Boyraz

TEL AVIV (AA) - Mohammad Barakeh, head of the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee and former member of the Knesset (Israel’s parliament), has described the U.S. as “the source of terror and instability” in the Middle East.

In a Wednesday interview with Anadolu Agency, Barakeh, who served in the Knesset from 1999 to 2015, said: “I believe the Americans play a destructive role in the entire region.”

Based in Israel, the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee is an independent organization devoted to coordinating the activities of various Israeli-Arab political groups.

The committee is comprised largely of Arab Knesset members, Arab municipal leaders and other prominent members of the Israeli-Arab community.

Barakeh also described last week’s decision by U.S. President Donald Trump to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital as an “attack” on the Arab and Islamic world.

“If the U.S. wants to maintain an embassy in Israel, it should stay here in Tel Aviv,” Barakeh said. “But it has no place in Jerusalem, which has a Palestinian, Arab, Muslim and Christian identity.”

Last Wednesday, Trump announced his decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and relocate the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to the holy city.

The dramatic shift in Washington’s longstanding Jerusalem policy sparked angry demonstrations in the occupied Palestinian territories and in several Muslim countries.

- Turkish reaction

Barakeh also voiced appreciation for the overwhelmingly negative reaction to Trump’s move on the part of the Turkish government and people.

“We appreciated the position taken by Turkish President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan, which was much stronger than that of the Arab and other Muslim countries,” he said.

In light of the White House’s controversial move, he added, the U.S. can “no longer play a mediating role in the Israel-Palestine conflict”.

“Truth be told,” he went on to assert, “the U.S. has always supported Israel.”

Barakeh also congratulated the Ramallah-based Palestinian government, along with Egypt’s Al-Azhar and Orthodox Coptic Church, for declining to meet with U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence following the move.

“Now we call on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to stand with Jerusalem… where one of the three holiest mosques -- the Al-Aqsa -- is located,” Barakeh said, referring to Wednesday’s OIC summit in Istanbul.

According to Barakeh, resolutions adopted by the OIC should be clearer and stronger than those adopted by the Cairo-based Arab League.

“The Arab League resolution [on the U.S. move] was artificial and meaningless,” he said. “Even after Trump’s decision, the league couldn’t overtly state its rejection of U.S. mediation [of the peace process].”

- 50-year occupation

Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967 before unilaterally annexing the entire city -- claiming it as its "undivided" capital -- in 1980.

At the time, the UN Security Council condemned the move, calling on member states to withdraw their diplomatic missions from Jerusalem in line with UNSC Resolution 478 (1980).

The same resolution explicitly described East Jerusalem as being “under occupation”.

Until now, countries that maintain formal relations with Israel keep their diplomatic missions in the city of Tel Aviv.

Jerusalem remains at the heart of the Israel-Palestine conflict, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem -- now occupied by Israel -- might eventually serve as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

During his electoral campaign last year, Trump repeatedly promised to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and acknowledge Jerusalem as the Jewish state’s capital.

In April, Moscow announced its recognition of West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, expressing hope that the city's eastern half might eventually serve as the capital of an independent state of Palestine.

Notably, in last week's announcement, Trump stressed that his administration had yet to take a position regarding "the specific boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem".