By Safvan Allahverdi
WASHINGTON
Amid the ongoing criticism of the U.S. move to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, a majority of Americans who Anadolu Agency interviewed in Washington opposed the decision, saying it would push the Middle East further into conflict.
“I am deeply disappointed in the decision,” a former banker, Tim McKeel, 67, told Anadolu Agency, adding it was a poor choice to take over Palestinian land without more negotiations.
“Of course we have to have some new ideas to be able to solve this problem but this was a new idea in the wrong direction,” he said.
“So I am deeply saddened that President [Donald] Trump’s voice has complicated things. Sad, sad, sad,” McKeel said.
Last week, Trump announced his decision -- despite widespread opposition across the Middle East -- to formally recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Describing Trump’s decision as a poke to a hornet's nest, realtor Luanne Christian, 43, said it would not help anyone to move toward peace.
“It was a very narrow-minded decision and it will definitely increase tension between both sides,” Christian continued. “If there is ever going to be a solution and peace, we have to not take sides.”
She emphasized that the international community has to bring people together to talk and put pressure on the Trump administration in order to control further tension.
“I think that Trump is pandering to his political base. He knows that he is slipping in the polls. But this is the wrong way to go about trying to regain his credibility with the American people,” Christian added.
Trump’s announcement sparked strong condemnation from around the world, including Turkey, the EU and the UN.
- Mueller investigation
Highlighting the timing of Trump’s Jerusalem decision, a tourist, Jonathan Andrewski, 44, questioned whether this was the best decision for the U.S.
“It causes lots of questions like, what will the U.S. gain on this? Why now, in the middle of the Mueller investigation?” Andrewski said, referring to Trump-Russia collusion allegations.
“Make no mistake, this will surely make things worse there,” he added.
Christine Hearthman, 43, from Los Angeles, told Anadolu Agency the Jerusalem move is something “a bully” would do.
“It was just a thoughtless decision made by a bully who sets America apart as a bullying diplomacy rather than a leader,” she stated.
During his election campaign last year, Trump repeatedly promised to relocate the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
“This is not just a political move but also a military move for America,” a history student, Hanoch Schwartzer, 23, said. “Because I think moving the Embassy to Jerusalem is an excuse to beef up security and U.S. military personnel.”
Schwartzer said that the U.S. is trying to directly involve itself in the conflict by sending more security personnel to Palestine under the pretext of protecting their own embassy staff.
“Because I can’t imagine any individual of the U.S. government willing to move the U.S. embassy there and not considering the fact that would require a greater protective force.”
Describing what Palestinians have had to go through for decades as “inhumane”, Cristine Hill, 28, said: “It is perfect timing to distract people to gain some time for both leaders of the U.S. and Israel.”
- Support for Trump
Trump has been under investigation while Benjamin Netanyahu has been dealing with corruption claims, she remarked.
Besides the opposite thoughts, there were also few people who told Anadolu Agency that they back Trump's decision.
As one of the supporters, former Navy Seal, Isaac Cullin, 56, said even though it is a very tough decision, he believes that Jerusalem should be the capital of Israel.
Because none of those ideas really worked out, this might change the situation, he said.
Notably, in last week's announcement, Trump stressed that his administration had yet to take a position on "the specific boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem”.
“Nothing else worked try to resolve that conflict over the last 25 some years,” Vince Pazzano, 54, said.
“Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and maybe it is the right decision to try something different and move along the peace process.”
In addition, according to a survey conducted by Shibley Telhami, a professor, and director of the University of Maryland Critical Issues Poll last week, 63 percent of 2,000 participants said the U.S. Embassy should not be moved to Jerusalem.
The poll also found that 59 percent of participants said they preferred that Trump lean toward neither side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In contrast, 57 percent, including most Republicans, said he is, in fact, leaning toward Israel.
In addition, nearly 65 percent of the participants said Trump's decision on Jerusalem would be violating international norms, harming important relationships worldwide, and generating anti-American sentiment among Arabs and Muslims globally.
Despite public opinion, Trump’s decision was welcomed by evangelical voters who overwhelmingly supported Trump in the 2016 election, pro-Israel organizations and some of his biggest donors, although more narrowly, with 53 percent supporting it in the same poll.
