Trump against the International Community?

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Trump has convulsed the international community for the declarations on the Golan Heights and Israel, what is this new controversy about?

As is customary in the International Community, any declaration or action that contains the word Israel is synonymous with controversy or conflict. This time, the new controversy is propitiated by the US president by saying that it is time to declare the Golan Heights as the legitimate land of Israel.

Leer en español: ¿Trump en contra de la Comunidad Internacional?

According to the London BCC, the exact words of this president were: "The USA will fully recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which are of strategic importance and critical security for the State of Israel and regional stability".

As expected, the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Nethanyahu, celebrated the words of the American tycoon. As El País of Spain explains, the Israeli Prime Minister met with his American counterpart to celebrate this historic decision; Netanyahu commented that the Golan Heights were won in legitimate defense over the Syrian people, hence their sovereignty belongs to all Israelis.

For its part, the government of Syria, commanded by the president, Bashar Al-Ásad, transmitted to its population that Syria was going to recover militarily the Golan Heights, since this territory is a historical and strategic zone for the country, as the newspaper La Jornada explained.

What are the consequences for the International Community?

The consequences are multiple and varied. The German media, Deutsche Welle, interviewed some authorities on the subject.

First, the professor of the Arab world in Washington, Hussein Ibish, warned that these statements can be very professional for other international disputes. Ibish explained to Deutsche Welle that one of the principles enshrined in the United Nations, after the Second World War, was the non-annexation through the war of other territories and, clearly, the statements of President Trump go against that principle.

In addition, this same German media also warned that:

"The greatest danger is global and long term." By recognizing and legitimizing the annexation of the Golan by Israel, Washington is virtually inviting other international predators to take over what they want, then, according to this logic, everything they need to do is cling to that territory for long enough to call it 'reality' and demand that other countries 'recognize the reality' by legitimizing their appropriation of land".

Because of this, international disputes in territories such as Thailand, Cambodia, Kashmir, Lebanon, Syria and Egypt could be legitimized.

Finally, Professor Hussein Ibish comments that these statements can be a double-edged sword for the United States; for example, the annexation of Crimea to Russia, under this perspective, could be legitimized, Russia should only wait for several years to be legitimized as the sole owner of Crimea.

Finally, the analysis of this professor ends up warning the serious consequences that would come if the USA decides to legitimize the Gaza Strip as property of Israel; such action would represent the death of years of negotiation.

Also read: Neither Maduro nor Guaidó! The diplomatic clash between the USA and Russia

What are the Golan Heights?

According to the BBC, the Golan Heights is a biblical territory composed of a 60-kilometer rocky plateau. For the year of 1967, Syria, in the company of other countries, decided to attack the State of Israel, however, things did not go as they expected.

Finally, in the counter-attack, Israel seized this territory from Israel and, since then, these territories have been several times in peace processes and is monitored by the United Nations.

For Israel, the Golan Heights represent a sacred territory for Jews, while for Syria, it represents a strategic territory from which one can see its capital, Damascus.

LatinAmerican Post | Miguel Díaz

Translated from "¿Trump en contra de la Comunidad Internacional?"