AT least 30 people were wounded in the Gaza Strip and West Bank yesterday in protests against Donald Trump’s move to recognise Jerusalem as the Israeli capital.
The president reversed long-standing US policy on the issue, provoking anger among Palestinians. Hundreds of Israeli troops were deployed in the West Bank as Palestinians took the streets.
One person was reportedly left in a critical condition, with protesters throwing stones and troops firing rubber bullets and live ammunition.
Israeli authorities also said two rockets had been fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, but did not reach their target.
Trump said he had judged the move as being “in the best interests of the United States of America and the pursuit of peace between Israel and the Palestinians” and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed gratitude, saying the Republican had “bound himself forever with the history of the capital”.
However, the leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, called for a new armed uprising, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Trump of throwing the region into a “ring of fire” and Saudi Arabia’s royal court also condemned the decision.
Nicola Sturgeon branded Trump’s actions “reckless, wrong and a real threat to peace in the Middle East”.
She said: “The status of Jerusalem should be determined in a negotiated settlement by the Israelis and Palestinians, and, ultimately of course, Jerusalem should be the shared capital of the Israeli and Palestinian states, and that I think is an important principle.
“It is incumbent on all of us to condemn that decision, to work even harder to secure peace in the Middle East and, even at this late stage, call on Donald Trump to think again.”
A demonstration is planned for Edinburgh tomorrow, when groups condemning Trump will march from Waverley Station to the US consulate.
They include the Balfour Declaration Centenary Campaign, with a number of organisations representing Scotland’s Muslim communities also expected to attend.
Abdul Bostani of Glasgow Afghan United, who will attend, said Trump’s decision would also affect his home country, where US troops are still present following years of conflict and threats from extremist factions remain.
He said: “This will not give any help to the peace process, but it will bring reaction. It will lead to more radicalism.
“We will have less security, more war, more attacks.”
Water cannons and tear gas were fired to disperse crowds in the Biblical town of Bethlehem yesterday.
The clashes come weeks before Christmas celebrations there and just days before Hanukkah begins.
Yesterday a leader of Scotland’s Jewish community expressed fears about the consequences for interfaith relations here.
The spokesperson, who did not want to be identified, told The National: “I am concerned about the misrepresentation of a geopolitical issue in a way that has the potential to inflame tensions between religious groups in Scotland.”
Trump’s statement follows a similar move by Russia in April, when Moscow said it considers West Jerusalem the capital of Israel, giving East Jerusalem the same status for a future Palestinian state.
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