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Jerusalem is an international city – the capital of none. Neither Trump, Netanyahu or anyone else can change what UN Resolution 181 established in November 1947, before Israel became a member state.
UN Resolution 194 mandated free access to the city, other holy places, and right of return for diaspora Palestinians.
Resolution 273 gave Israel UN membership conditional on it accepting Resolutions 181 and 194, as well as “unreservedly (agreeing to honor) the obligations of the United Nations Charter.”
From inception to now, Israel defied international laws at its discretion, showing contempt for the rule of law, brutalizing Palestinians throughout its existence.
In response to Trump’s lawless Jerusalem declaration, Security Council members voted 14 – 1 in favor of respecting the “character, status (and) demographic composition of the Holy City” – America the sole outlier by its veto.
Today, General Assembly members will meet in a rare emergency special session (ESS) – a draft resolution similar to the Security Council one on Jerusalem expected to be adopted overwhelmingly.
Neocon US UN envoy Nikki Haley vowed “to take names” of nations voting against Trump’s declaration.
On Wednesday, Trump threatened to cut off foreign aid to nations supporting today’s General Assembly resolution on Jerusalem.
It’ll hardly matters. America spends less than one percent of its annual budget on foreign aid. Most is military related, Israel by far the largest recipient.
About 85% of US aid goes to NGOs and government contractors serving US imperial interests, relatively small amounts directly to foreign governments.
Except for Israel, virtually all US aid comes with strings, Washington the main beneficiary. Trump’s bluster won’t change things.
Like most other federal officials, he has a disturbing habit of saying one thing and doing another.
Co-opted by dark forces, he betrayed the public interest straightaway in office.
He broke virtually every promise made about helping ordinary people, exclusively serving privileged ones, mainly Wall Street, the Pentagon, beneficiaries of militarism and belligerence, along with other corporate predators and large investors.
His recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital contemptuously defied international law and Palestinian rights.
His threatened cutoff of aid to nations failing to support his lawlessness likely fell on deaf ears worldwide, further isolating America, Trump roaring:
“All these nations that take our money and then vote against us at the Security Council or the assembly, they take hundreds of millions of dollars and billions of dollars and they vote against.”
“Well, we’re watching those votes. Let them vote against us. We’ll save a lot. We don’t care,” adding:
We’re “tired of this country being taken advantage of and we’re not going to be taken advantage of any longer.”
Abusive US practices take advantage of nations and ordinary people worldwide, not the other way around.
America is a pariah state, making more enemies than friends. Trump’s agenda and demagogic bombast made the deplorable state of America worse since he took office.
On Thursday, UN member states will respond to Trump, overwhelmingly rejecting his Jerusalem declaration, repudiating his deplorable action.
Stephen Lendman is a Research Associate of the CRG, Correspondent of Global Research based in Chicago.
My newest book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”
Featured image is from Newsweek.
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