Daily Times

In his tweets, speeches and sometimes actions, United States President Donald Trump often touches the height of absurdity. On Sunday last, however, his name appeared in a bizarre way though actions of his Israeli admirers in Golan Heights. The illegal occupation of Syrian territory by Israel not only to continue, it is going to see more illegal structures, named after President Trump, in the coming days. The naming is meant to be a way of expressing Zionist gratitude to the US leader for his support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. President Trump has brazenly recognized Isreal’s sovereignty over the occupied land. This is is also the recognition of illegal occupation of Jerusalem and other parts of the Palestinians. Trump Heights is the continuation of Israel’s policy of building housing schemes on occupied Arab lands despite the international outcry against the practice. It is the kind of measures taken by Israel for decades that have undermined the effectiveness of the United Nations, whose resolutions have become the butt of jokes. The UN has voiced its customary condemnation of the settlements on the occupied Golan, but to no avail.

The gesture is in fact Israel’s way of expressing its gratitude for Trump, who has announced shifting the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Despite a long history of open support to Israel, no predecessor of Trump had taken the extreme step. It is only during the Trump era that the US has stopped talking of the Two-State Solution to end the plight of Palestinians and bring sustainable peace to the Middle East. Much to the dismay of the Palestinians, and the Ummah, several Arab leaders have toned down their voices for the rights of Palestinians. Many Arab countries are on the same page with Israel when it comes to Iran and Syria.

As long as the While House does not change its policy on Israel, the world community is silent and the Ummah in disarray, the plight of Palestinians is not going to end. Trump Heights, which now only a few structures so far, is going to be a huge housing complex in the days to come. The only way forward for the solution of the Palestine issue is unity among Muslim countries and an effective campaign across the world for support of Palestinians. *