Pirate's Cove

Doing this has been U.S. policy for decades, but previous presidents have talked about doing it but never pulled the trigger

Jerusalem welcomes the new U.S. Embassy as Palestinians decry ‘hostile’ move

The windy road leading up to the city was decorated with fluttering American and Israeli flags on Monday as signs everywhere declared “Trump, Make Israel Great.” A popular soccer team even renamed itself: “Beitar Trump Jerusalem.”

Jerusalem is ready — sort of — for the official opening of the U.S. Embassy.

The inauguration will take place at the site of the new embassy, which is really the existing consulate, just with a spanking new plaque. President Trump will not attend but he will address the high-profile crowd, including his daughter Ivanka, son-in-law Jared Kushner and a host of political, religious and communal leaders, via live video linkup.

For most of Jerusalem’s residents, the wider Israeli public and the country’s leaders, it’s a cause for huge celebration.

At a celebratory breakfast in Jerusalem, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked called Trump the “Churchill of the 21st century.”

“He has reversed Chamberlain’s policy of capitulation and teaches the world that “the landowner has returned,” said Shaked at an event attended by members of the visiting White House delegation. “Europe insists upon not learning from history. It closed its eyes to the strengthening of the Nazis; today it is choosing to close its eyes to the strengthening of Iran. In such a reality in particular, it is good that the leader of the free world is President Trump.”

And, what this also does is formally recognize Jerusalem as the official capital of Israel.

Palestinians are planning to protest the move at events planned throughout Jerusalem and the West Bank. Israeli police spokesman, Micky Rosenfeld, said that security forces were on high alert for what is expected to be a tense few days.

On Tuesday, Palestinians mark the Nakba, Arabic for “catastrophe,” a term used for the flight and expulsion of an estimated 700,000 Palestinians seven decades ago upon Israel’s creation. The day also draws large protests.

But the largest demonstrations will likely take place in the coastal enclave of Gaza, where there has already been several weeks of unrest, with some 49 Palestinians killed by Israeli soldiers and more than 2,000 wounded.

Unsurprising, and it will be unsurprising that the international media will condemn Israel when they respond after being attacked.

Somehow, this next bit actually made it into a Washington Post article, even if it was exactly the last two paragraphs

But Mike Evans, an American Christian Zionist who runs the Friends of Zion center in Jerusalem and paid for the citywide banners celebrating Trump, says this is a “pragmatic move.”

“The embassy dedication is a statement of no longer tolerating evil and is a game changer for the Middle East,” he said.

Too often administrations have tolerated radical Islam and attacks on Israel. Team Trump is changing that.

*Photo is from Ariel Schalit/AP, and is being widely used throughout many similar articles.

More: Unsurprising (more at Twitchy and Hot Air)

GAZA STRIP BORDER – Clashes ahead of US Jerusalem embassy opening

???? @saidkhatib @mohmdabed @MahmudHams #AFP pic.twitter.com/jfjUtresEn

— AFP Photo (@AFPphoto) May 14, 2018