MCA: Trump’s Jerusalem move may reignite conflict

Politicians, business chiefs, bankers and celebrities will meet in the Swiss Alps under the banner "Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World" for the four-day gathering against an unsettling global backdrop

PETALING JAYA: The MCA’s Religious Harmony Bureau has hit out at US President Donald Trump’s announcement recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, calling the move dangerous with the potential to reignite Muslim-Christian-Judeo tension and conflict.

The US president’s statement did not take into account the United Nations (UN) policy of a two-state solution to resolve the long-running Palestine-Israel conflict, it said in a statement by bureau secretary Chris Daniel Wong on Friday.

“Trump has completely disregarded the Oslo Accords, a peace process aimed at achieving a peace treaty based on UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338 and at fulfilling Palestinians’ right to self-determination,” his statement read.

“His unilateral decision breaks with international consensus on a highly emotional issue that is best left to negotiations,” Wong added, pointing out that Jerusalem had been continuously inhabited by Muslims, Christians and Jews.

He also said that Trump must recognise that mutual respect is the cornerstone of the Middle East peace process.

“As it is, his announcement has already sparked clashes and violence in the West Bank, putting lives and properties at stake,” Wong said.

Umno Youth and PAS have announced plans to demonstrate in front of the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.

Wong urged the two parties to recognise that Trump’s announcement was not a “Christian crusade”.

“Our bureau fully supports the rights of the Palestinian people to be free of oppression and discrimination under the Zionist regime,” he said, also calling for Trump’s rhetoric to be rejected and for the UN to intervene.