The Unbroken Barrier Between Groups
When President Trump made the decision to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv, Israel to Jerusalem, his decision was met with two very polar opposite opinions. In the Article titled "For some, the US Embassy's move to Jerusalem fulfills divine prophecy," the author Michele Chabin rephrases just that. She quotes Rabbi David Rosen, director of the American Jewish Committee's Department of Interreligious Affairs, stating "for evangelical Christians the embassy move is part of eschatology, the expectation of what will transpire at the end of times." In other words, both Evangelical Christians as well as Jews believe that the return of the Jews to Jerusalem is a step that leads ultimately to the full messianic era. However, other leaders of Holy Land churches expressed differently, saying that they felt "certain that such steps [would] yield increased hatred, conflict, violence and suffering in Jerusalem and the Holy Land."
Because of this relocation, it is said that relations between Jews and Christians have become more positive. This, however, was not true concerning relations with the Palestinian people who have claims to Jerusalem. During the opening of the new embassy, protests took place alongside the border between Israel and Gaza, and many Palestinians died. Not only was this in protest to the displacement of Palestinians from their homes, but Trump scheduled the opening of the embassy to be on the day that marks Israel's independence, when Palestinians were removed by force from lands that were previously their own. Therefore, this move of the embassy to Jerusalem was seen as an act of aggression, and was of course met with anger from Palestinians.
The main people who find this relocation of the embassy consist of American Christians and Jews, but the relocation does not mean anything significant to many Israeli's. The city has it's own government, and the new embassy doesn't influence U.S. diplomatic functioning in Jerusalem much at all. Therefore, this relocation does not seem to be positively impacting relations between the different groups residing in Jerusalem.
In the journal "Indigenous Minority Rights, Citizenship, and the New Jerusalem" by Marc Ellis, Ellis discusses what needs to happen for relations between Israelis and Palestinians to improve after a history of violence. He states that "in a democratic secular state defined by citizenship, the divide between settlers and indigenes (Palestinians) breaks down over time because the barriers themselves are false historically and in the present" (78 Ellis). He argues that if there is a struggle for citizenship, history becomes more involved which is harmful if there is a violent history between groups. Considering many Palestinians were removed from their land and were willing to die while protesting this as recently as 2018, there is still a struggle for citizenship, and the barrier between Jews and Palestinians does not look like it will be broken down any time soon. And the relocation of the U.S. Embassy does not appear to have helped.
Because of this relocation, it is said that relations between Jews and Christians have become more positive. This, however, was not true concerning relations with the Palestinian people who have claims to Jerusalem. During the opening of the new embassy, protests took place alongside the border between Israel and Gaza, and many Palestinians died. Not only was this in protest to the displacement of Palestinians from their homes, but Trump scheduled the opening of the embassy to be on the day that marks Israel's independence, when Palestinians were removed by force from lands that were previously their own. Therefore, this move of the embassy to Jerusalem was seen as an act of aggression, and was of course met with anger from Palestinians.
The main people who find this relocation of the embassy consist of American Christians and Jews, but the relocation does not mean anything significant to many Israeli's. The city has it's own government, and the new embassy doesn't influence U.S. diplomatic functioning in Jerusalem much at all. Therefore, this relocation does not seem to be positively impacting relations between the different groups residing in Jerusalem.
In the journal "Indigenous Minority Rights, Citizenship, and the New Jerusalem" by Marc Ellis, Ellis discusses what needs to happen for relations between Israelis and Palestinians to improve after a history of violence. He states that "in a democratic secular state defined by citizenship, the divide between settlers and indigenes (Palestinians) breaks down over time because the barriers themselves are false historically and in the present" (78 Ellis). He argues that if there is a struggle for citizenship, history becomes more involved which is harmful if there is a violent history between groups. Considering many Palestinians were removed from their land and were willing to die while protesting this as recently as 2018, there is still a struggle for citizenship, and the barrier between Jews and Palestinians does not look like it will be broken down any time soon. And the relocation of the U.S. Embassy does not appear to have helped.
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