Even when the the capital will be located outside the internationally recognised boundaries of their own country

Maybe Russia should move their capital to the Crimea? The weather is much better

But Trump did not recognize Jerusalem as Israeli.
He said nothing of the kind.

Yes, but why do heads of state keep visiting it then, if it's quasi-occupied territory?

That's (to me) like Merkel visiting Crimea and walking around the city with Putin, visiting the harbor while eating an ice-cream. Holding talks. Whatever.

German and English wikipedia point out Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.

While Berlin was divided, heads of state didn't really fly to Berlin very often. Germany was actually not allowed to conduct any official federal (political) business there.

Israel is not going to give any of the contested land back. Not an inch (or square inch). Not in Jerusalem, not on the West Bank and not on the Gaza Strip. Nowhere.

And the West is totally fine with it. Well, maybe not fine, but indifferent enough that it can (and is) interpreted by Israel as a "Carry on, bro, but keep it low for a while, will you?".
That is the reality. And Trump has acknowledged that (of course, it will also pretty much give him most of the Jewish votes come next election, which would be silly to believe to be a coincidence)

The Jewish in the USA have their fingers everywhere

There aren't that many Jewish voters in the US. There are about 7 million, and account for less than 2% of the voters. They typically vote Liberal. 71% voted for Hillary.

Especially those made with zucchini and potatoes and served with sour cream.


Right. But re. Jerusalem, I guess Trump poured some more fuel on the fire..

Women who have publicly accused President Trump of sexual misconduct will call for Congress to investigate the allegations at a press conference on Monday.

Some of the sixteen women who have accused Trump will unite for the first time to demand the probe and share details of their allegations against Trump.

Three lawmakers resigned or announced their resignation during the past week over sexual misconduct claims.

Source

Well, well. Imagine that. Lobbyists are successful in asking Trump for reducing Bear Ears for uranium mining purposes.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...-a8101126.html

And here's Trump explaining the dangers of uranium:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCnKtzQpCSs

That has limited significance. Read the actual law that's now effective, the "Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995".

The act distinguishes between the divided city (1948-1967) and the reunited one (since 1967), demanding/stating that
i) it's Israel's right to declare Jerusalem its capital
ii) Jerusalem is to be recognised as Israel's capital
iii) Jerusalem is to remain united

Now, it's clear that a capital must be part of the respective country's sovereign area. From this follows that a) Jerusalem in its entirety has just been recognised as part of Israel itself, and b) Jerusalem will not, in part or whole, be part of a future country Palestine, simply because Israel won't ever agree to such a thing happening. Especially now that it's been recognised by the US.

And that is a typical Antisemtic view.

I don't think that because the US has now decided to accept Jeroozalem as the capital of Israel that Israel did not already consider it to be the capital. The international community has been on the sidelines with this for a long time because it is so contentious. Either way Israel would never concede Jeroozalem to Palestine, regardless of what the US says.

In view of the separation of state and religion, I don't think there should be any official govt-sanctioned religious festivities in the White House or any other government building.

But the White House is also the residence of the person of the president and his family. Nobody can prevent the president from holding a personal or family celebration in his own residence and inviting whom he sees fit. It should just be handled as a private and not a state occasion.

It would be hypocritical for a president who has no muslim connections to host a private celebration of a Muslim holiday. Jewish is understandable as his daughter married a Jewish guy.

The UN plan from back long ago actually says that both Israel and the Palestinians should have Jersualem as their capital, but that Jerusalem should be a divided city. This could be interpreted to mean they want to see a wall running down the middle of the city, a bit like Berlin - or maybe something that is more open than that on regular days but can be shut down quickly if the situation demands it. In other words, a wall with well defined openings. Furthermore, some of the Jewish holy sites are actually in what should according to the UN be the Palestinian sector.

In other words, what the UN wants is unworkable. If the Palestians want to stick with the divided city scenario, they should at least concede that that border needs some adusting. I expect the more switched on ones fully understand this but can't bring themselves to admit it.

I know the gravity of a statement when I find myself completely in agreement with Phos on the matter.

"The Jews"? As in all of them?

Anti-semitism is quite evident in the case of the reactions to Jerusalem.

What exactly is the problem with Jerusalem being acknowledged as Israel's capital? All people of all faiths can still visit their holy sites, as long as they don't inflict violence on others.

How is turning over Jerusalem to some newly invented Palestinian state a better result? There has been no such thing as a Palestinian state until 1988. Whereas the Jewish state dates back thousands of years ago.

In practical terms, does this so-called Palestinian state have any real capabilities apart from redistributing foreign aid? Many of them have violent pasts. How is that a better outcome?

As long as Jerusalem is not held by Jews, and held by any Muslim instead, no matter how incompetent or incapable they would be in maintaining peace?

The times have truly changed, huh? These things used to take place in court not too long ago?

According to my wine rack, the Rothschild's are into producing wine. And good at it - but that's a matter of taste, I guess. Never thought about whether the wine was Jewish or Christian (I wonder if that matters in church ceremonies? )

It's weird enough to talk about "the Germans", "the Americans", The [enter any nationality] but to talk about "the Jews", "The moslems" is even more far fetched. Strangely enough one hardly ever hears "the Christians", so this may be a Christian thing?

If only we could generate electricity from stupid.

The last couple of pages could provide power for half of Switzerland.

It's a bit more complicted when the accused is the sitting president. A pretty good explanation of the constitutional issues and historical norms at play:

https://www.voanews.com/a/can-a-us-p...e/3961703.html

From the article:

"While the Constitution lays out conditions under which a president can be impeached and removed from office, it does not directly address whether the president can be prosecuted. Neither does federal law. Courts have never ruled on the issue.

As a result of that lack of clarity, scholars base their judgement on more vague factors, such as constitutional principles and the original intent of the founders.

The prevailing view among legal scholars is that a sitting president cannot be indicted, according to recent reports. But legal opinion is divided, says Eric Freedman, professor of constitutional law at Hofstra University."


/US civics lesson

I disagree.

I don't think Israel cares much for the Gaza strip, except maybe as a bargaining chip. Remember some years ago how they dismantled their settlements there and moved their people out.

I can also well see them letting go of certain parts of the West Bank in a similar manner, provided the result is a defendible border and there aren't any of those silly enclaves or exclaves.

But where I agree that there is little room for compromise is Jerusalem. Maybe some years ago had the Palestinians had some smart negotiators, they might have secured some suburbs, but even that is now increasingly unlikely as the last bits of the ring are being closed with new settlements.

So the best the Palestinans can aim for is to agree to some border corrections and then create their own state on the resulting land.

If the resulting state turns into such a shining example of peace and development with a friendly relationship with all neighbours, they can maybe come back some years later and ask for some more land. They could even make the case that Jeruslaem would be a better, more peaceful and more tolerant place for all religions under their protection.

But first they need to prove they can do that in the areas they have.

Their present all or nothing attitude is taking them nowhere.