- OIC response
When Turkish President Erdogan warned of consequences just before the Jerusalem decision – immediate OIC conference in Istanbul and possible diplomatic cutoff with Israel – he seemed to almost believe himself. Surely the Americans would have factored in Muslim fury, even Erdogan’s threats, and written them off as inconsequential in the long run. They, and the Israelis, would also have expected a rocket or two from the Gaza strip – landing in no man’s land as always. Hence it was little surprise to see the IDF and Israeli air force take out the usual few helpless Palestinians in their strikes. They are sure that now, like always, the rage and fury of the Muslim world will fizzle out, not turn to meaningful action.
After all it was the inaction of the Muslims that forced Arafat to abandon the maximalist argument and embrace the inevitability of the two state solution which, in turn, gave a degree of legal cover to Israel’s illegitimate occupation of Jerusalem. Neither the leaders of the ummah nor PLO – the world’s best funded resistance force whose bigwigs gobbled billions in US and EU aid money – ever connected with the besieged Palestinians inside the Holy Land and their insular clans. Now, as before, those on the ground will pay in tears and blood as the wider world debates the merits of Trump’s decision.
Sure, the OIC will breathe fire in a few days in Istanbul. And Erdogan is right; the move the Jerusalem will not be as straight forward as the White House thinks. Yet the decision implies, for all intents and purposes, that the project which had been suspended as two-state talks lingered is now moving ahead. The Israelis experienced a scare during the Obama years – rapprochement with Tehran, etc. Now, with a friendly in the House, those running the big show have decided to take it one step forward. The Muslim world, meanwhile, is just as toothless as during the long years of the Israeli occupation. Much of it is also, like always, dependent on western money and aid just for its survival. What OIC can do for the Palestinians, in a quantifiable manner, remains difficult to see.