Recently, U.S. President Donald Trump has declared that the capital of Israel was Jerusalem and that the U.S. embassy is about to move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Tensions are high as many people in the Middle East are infuriated by the move. Take a look at this map of Old Jerusalem: Yes, you can clearly see this diversity.
Donald Trump has made more efforts to connect better with Israel than the previous Obama administration. One of these is this bold move to change the location of the U.S. embassy. This move is provoking some Muslims who live in East Jerusalem and/or West Bank/ Occupied territory. Palestine and Israel have been at it for decades, and this move may be misconstrued by them to mean that the U.S. does not recognize Palestinian rights. That of course is not true.
The U.N. has been quick to jump at the U.S., but then again if you look at the U.N.'s history, there has been much hostility toward Israel like not doing much about Hamas, or not taking much action against Iran which hates Israel. Other nations are expressing hesitance because such a bold move has really not been seen. While it is for good reasons, it is very shocking to the Palestinians, that view Jerusalem as their home and do not think it should represent only Israel. People in the Middle East are referring to this as the 'slap of the century'.
Palestinians lay equal claim to Jerusalem and want East Jerusalem to be the capital of their country. 200,000 live there already. There are also between 150,000 - 300,000 Israelis there as well. You can't just force people to move around, but you also want to make sure that they have their right to a home. For years, Israel has been developing settlements around the area that have been declared as illegal by the international community. Of course, there has not been much real action against Israel, There are occasional skirmishes between groups, but no war. This is certainly a completely different dynamic than the North Korea situation, Israel just wants its right to exist as a country. The thing is that others also want to lay a claim.
So will this lead to more controversy? Sure. But this is also a way to make a move instead of always lingering around and hoping for a "peaceful resolution" that will never come. Instead of lollygagging, people will be forced to come to a solution that will benefit multiple parties.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-42264307
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-42287429
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/12/08/why-it-matters-us-pivot-on-jerusalem.html
http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/06/politics/pope-francis-jerusalem/index.html
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