Jerusalem is illegally occupied and protected by International Law

Not your mama's Sunday school holy city: Beyond the torah, biblical and Quranic connections to Jerusalem, the city itself is home to hundreds of thousands of Israelis and Palestinians. Palestinian Jerusalemites and Palestinians within Israel live as second class citizens who are not treated  with the same respect and hospitality as Israeli and international Jews visiting and living in the city. Palestinians have complained for decades about the ongoing Judiazation of all of Jerusalem including Occupied East Jerusalem, pushing out and overlooked indigenous Palestinian heritage and de-Arabization process of the city with aid from the illegal Israeli settlers and the ultra ring wing Israeli government.

As the man child in chief or Trump, the current U.S. president flat out recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital and contemplates moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv the de facto capital of Israel not Jerusalem, he seems to ignore the history and international law that recognizes Jerusalem as illegally occupied territory by the Israeli Military.  Everyone from the Saudi king to Turkey to Jordanian government and the Palestinian government including the PLO warned him not to do it. The diplomats too signaled that it would be a disaster. The Palestinian rights supporters and groups have mostly condemned Trump's recognition. There is more to Jerusalem than biblical tourism. Illegal Israeli settlements or colonies have been built in and around East Jerusalem in Occupied Palestine in violation of International Law, Geneva Accords, Israel's own High Court rulings and multiple UN Resolutions that have condemned Israel as the occupying power for decades against the security state's occupation infrastructure, brutal military rule and the ongoing Separation/Apartheid Wall that takes 10% of Occupied West Bank from Palestine. Palestinians in Jerusalem don't have freedom of movement and are not allowed to build in East Jerusalem and by extension West Bank towns bordering Israeli settlements without permits. Please keep in mind that many Palestinian Jerusalemites still have the original land deeds to nearly all the buildings in Jerusalem both East and West. Some Palestinians do own their original land and homes from 1948 right before Israel came into existence on top of Palestine. Jerusalem isn't the capital of Israel for a reason. It's the history that Trump doesn't understand and does not want to know. The United States has been Israel's financial and military backer and ally from 1948 onwards. It was the U.S. who twisted the arms of countries to support Israel nearly 70 years ago. Americans further supported Israel when it occupied the reminder of historical Palestine in 1967 during the Six Day War along with Syria's Golan Heights and Egypt's Sinai that was returned in 1971. The guilt of not doing enough to prevent the holocaust and the fear of being labeled as anti Israel or anti-Semitic really anti-Jewish (which is a religious group like Buddhism and not an ethnic group), has pushed the U.S. and the other Western countries to defend Israel and Zionism no matter what. Even when Israel has continuously violated international law, UN resolutions and worldwide condemnation for its abuses and maltreatment towards the Palestinian people in the name of fighting terrorism. Palestinians continue to face home demolitions, detentions, nighttime raids, road and neighborhood closures like in occupied Hebron, the dissection of the West Bank into banustans with 500+ military checkpoints, blockades that have turned Gaza into an open air prison, East Jerusalem is always on lock down during Jewish holidays. Palestinians even face restrictions going to the Temple Mount, Al Aqsa compound, churches, mosques and schools in Jerusalem and in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

An unequal conflict

As been reiterated again and again, the conflict isn't between equals and no Palestinians don't have equal footing in terms of military defense or a loud lobby to campaign on their behalf or portray their struggle as just. Ordinary citizens in the U.S., Africa and Asia for years have supported Palestinian fight for liberation and self determination in the face of excessive Israeli wars and violence. If it was up to ordinary citizens instead of governments, Palestine would've been independent and the Israeli military occupation over decades ago. The Israel first supporters and lobbyists always have the final say in how U.S. Foreign Policy is dictated in the Middle East especially when fighting terrorism and destructive wars. Any criticism is pushed to the side to champion Israel and the West' need for security without thought given to Palestine, Syria or Egypt's security needs and development. Orientalism and dehumanization of Palestinians as terrorists also play a role how the media and ordinary people see the countries. Israeli-U.S. relationship and treatment of the Palestinians is also directly affected by Tel Aviv and Israeli pundits who frame everything around terrorism and defense to feed the Zionist security state. Than there is Christian Zionism that emphasizes the Sunday school view of Israel and Palestine as the Holy Land without any historical or geopolitical context to why Israeli occupation has been going on and why Palestinians use violence and terror. It has nothing to do with Isaac vs Ishmeal. The conflict has only been in existence since Balfour Declaration in 1917 literally 100 years ago. By extension, Israel gets away with treating neighboring countries as existential enemies each time there is a terrorist attack or verbal threat within the country or abroad.The Israeli military frequently bombs and launches surprise attacks leading to wars ie Lebanon, Egypt, Syria and Iraq. On the ground, Israeli and Palestinian human rights activists and peace advocates have been working together to fight against Israeli occupation and bring Palestine's history, culture and voice to the wider world who has been blinded and overlooked by the Israel first supporters.