By: Lisa M. Hayes – Confluence Daily is your daily news source for women in the know.
As Trump Lays Waste to American Foreign Policy He May Have Set a Fire in Jerusalem He Can’t Control
One of the biggest talking points for candidate Trump was the message of isolationism wrapped in a blanket of Make America Great Again. “America first“, he would scream from behind podiums at rallies, where his rabid fans would return the chorus of “lock her up” as if it were some kind of angry church service.
The problem with that theory is the U.S. isn’t the only country on the planet and U.S. foreign policy has massive and rippling impacts on the rest of the globe. Either Trump doesn’t get that or he doesn’t care. The decisions to relocate the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, and to recognize the city as the capital of Israel, may be the most egregious example of the careless and self-promoting brand of the foreign policy of this administration to date.
Trump’s rhetoric about a “strong commitment to peace” sounded uncannily laughable when juxtaposed on the split-screen of Middle East news coverage with the scenes of burning, shooting, and ambulances around the occupied territories. These scenes aren’t unfamiliar, but today they are especially sharp. Ivanka, all polished and poised on one side, taking her photo ops like a pro seemed utterly unaware that Isreali soldiers were killing peaceful protestors at the border in a violent show of force. Fifty plus are dead and that number will grow.
But here’s the thing: Ivanka wasn’t unaware. This outcome wasn’t just likely. It was unavoidable because that’s what Isreal does. Moreover, it undoubtedly was utterly intentional. Given the fact that Ramadan starts tomorrow, the choice of the date for ceremony alone was inflammatory.
This embassy move comes only days after America’s withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) Most world political experts agree this will force Iran to go nuclear due to the threat of Israel’s missiles. This is a threat that is now growing by the day. If someone was plotting a way to inflame tensions between the Sunni and Shia, this would be an easy way to accomplish that agenda. It will also set the stage for conflict in growing tensions between Isreal and Iran.
This is seriously complicated stuff and Trump’s scorched earth approach to doing reckless things will have consequences that go beyond our relationship with Isreal or the Isreali/Palestinian border. In a region that is historically always hot, it’s never been closer to a full-fledged wildfire than today. These foreign policy moves have been so predictable in their outcomes it’s impossible to imagine the Trump administration is working for peace.
So for today, while Ivanka and husband are posing for the cameras and doing a media tour, trigger-happy Isreali soldiers are pushing peace further and further off the table. Isis and other groups will take a different approach than the peaceful protestors to defeat the Israelis and the U.S. by default. There will be no shortage of “martyrs”. There never is.
There are lots of ways to start a war. You can, in fact, start a war at a fancy ribbon-cutting ceremony. You can only push people so far before fighting back is a matter of survival. In the occupied territories, survival on a daily basis is very uncertain.
Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, who planned the attack on Pearl Harbor would reportedly write in his diary, “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.”
History has a way of repeating itself. Unfortunately, it’s unlikely the U.S. will be on the right side of history here.
More by Lisa M. Hayes:
I’m White. I’m Privileged. And I’m Not Ashamed, but I am Accountable
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