In a speech on Wednesday U.S. President Donald Trump recognized al-Quds (Jerusalem) as Israel's capital and directed the State Department to begin the process of moving Washington’s embassy from Tel Aviv to the city.

The move was an invitation for more violence and bloodshed in the occupied territories and probably the wider region.  The decision came despite warnings by the Pope, Washington’s allies, the United Nations, and the entire international community which do not recognize Israel's ownership of the city.

The decision will indeed make the seven-decade long conflict in the occupied Palestinian territories more complicated.

Through this announcement the U.S. openly endorsed the annexation of East Jerusalem occupied by Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It was a clear violation of the United Nations Security Council resolutions which state Israel must withdraw from the lands it has occupied.

Palestinians have been considering East Jerusalem as their future capital while Israel considers Jerusalem to be a "united" city. In light of these bitter facts only a naïve person can believe that there will be a hope for a two-state solution in which Israelis and Palestinians can live peacefully side by side.

Prior to the declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, the Zionists had started wiping out Palestinians from the eastern part of the city by ruthlessly demolishing their houses. It was intended to Judaize the entire city, a move similar to what Daesh did to Christians, including Yazidis, in northern Iraq.

Trump and his allies are acting like Daesh who temporarily established their own caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria by luring extremists from around the world.

No time in recent memory the United States has been moving the world toward such anarchy. Through such act the U.S. and Israel are pushing people toward a religious war as Jerusalem’s Old City houses Islam’s third-holiest mosque.

Daesh and the Trump-Netanyahu coalition are two ends of an extreme. The end results are the same: spread of violence and extremism.

The U.S. has been paying dearly for such decisions in the past. Its support for the Israeli regime which has been humiliating Palestinians for over seven decades have radicalized the youth, especially those in the Arab world.

Ignorant of history Washington is again buying hatred and inviting violence.

PA/PA