RAMALLAH/BRUSSELS/OTTAWA: US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital sparked Palestinian protests, clashes and a call for a new intifada on Thursday as fears grew of fresh bloodshed in the region.

Trump’s announcement also prompted an almost universal diplomatic backlash, with fresh warnings from Turkey, the European Union and Russia.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, lavished praise on Trump, saying his name would now be associated with Jerusalem’s long history and urging other countries to follow his lead.

Israel’s military deployed hundreds more troops to the occupied West Bank amid uncertainty over the fallout, while clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces erupted in various areas.

In a speech in Gaza City, Hamas leader Ismail Haniya called for a new intifada, or uprising.

Protests were held in West Bank cities including Ramallah, Hebron, Bethlehem and Nablus, as well as in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli forces dispersed several hundred protesters with tear gas at a checkpoint at the entrance to Ramallah, while the Palestinian Red Crescent reported 22 people wounded from live fire or rubber bullets in the West Bank.

Five Palestinians were wounded from Israeli fire in the Gaza Strip as dozens protested near the barrier sealing off the enclave from Israel, Gazan authorities said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said it would put the region in a “ring of fire”.

“What kind of approach is this? Political leaders do not stir things up, they seek to make peace,” he said.

Palestinian leaders were outraged, with president Mahmud Abbas saying Trump had disqualified the United States from its traditional role as peace broker in the Middle East conflict.

Abbas visited Amman on Thursday to discuss the issue with Jordan’s King Abdullah II.

In a joint statement, the two leaders said “any measure tampering with the legal and historical status of Jerusalem is invalid” and warned that Trump’s decision “will have dangerous repercussions”.The international community does not recognise the ancient city as Israel’s capital, insisting the issue can only be resolved in negotiations — a point reiterated by UN chief Antonio Guterres in the wake of Trump’s decision.

Guterres implicitly criticised Trump, stressing his opposition to “any unilateral measures that would jeopardise the prospect of peace”.

EU vows push to make Jerusalem capital for Palestinians too

The EU’s top diplomat pledged on Thursday to reinvigorate diplomacy with Russia, the United States, Jordan and others to ensure Palestinians have a capital in Jerusalem after US President Donald Trump recognised the city as Israel’s capital.

The European Union, a member of the Middle East Quartet along with the United States, the United Nations and Russia, believes it has a duty to make its voice heard as the Palestinians’ biggest aid donor and Israel’s top trade partner.

“The European Union has a clear and united position. We believe the only realistic solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine is based on two states and with Jerusalem as the capital of both,” EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told a news conference.

She said she would meet Jordan’s foreign minister on Friday, while she and EU foreign ministers would discuss Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Brussels on Monday.

“The European Union will engage even more with the parties and with our regional and international partners. We will keep working with the Middle East Quartet, possibly in an enlarged format,” said Mogherini, citing Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, as well as Norway. “We remain convinced that the role of the United States ... is crucial,” she said.

Mogherini, who also spoke to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, threw her weight behind Jordan’s King Abdullah, saying he was “a very wise man” that everyone should listen to as the custodian of the Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem.

Trump’s decision stirred outrage across the Arab and Muslim world and alarm among US allies and Russia because of Jerusalem’s internationally disputed status, and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas urged Palestinians to abandon peace efforts and launch a new uprising against Israel.

Mogherini stressed all 28 EU governments were united on the issue of Jerusalem and seeking a solution envisaging a Palestinian state on land Israel took in a 1967 war, but policy divisions within the bloc have weakened its influence.

“This is the consolidated European Union position,” she said, saying EU foreign ministers made that clear to US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Tuesday in Brussels.

Canada embassy to remain in Tel Aviv: Trudeau

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made it clear on Thursday that Canada’s embassy in Israel would remain in Tel Aviv, in a split with its neighbour and ally, the United States.

“We will not be moving Canada’s embassy from Tel Aviv,” Trudeau said during a visit to Guangzhou, China, broadcast nationally in Canada.

Trudeau was reacting to US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem, which is claimed by both Israelis and Palestinians, as Israel’s capital.

On Wednesday, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland reaffirmed Canada’s longheld position that “the status of Jerusalem can be resolved only as part of a general settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli dispute.”

“We are strongly committed to the goal of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East, including the creation of a Palestinian state living side-by-side in peace and security with Israel,” she said.

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2017