Reopening US Consulate in East Jerusalem is essential to peace

The reopening of the US Consulate in East Jerusalem to address Palestinian Affairs is essential to achieving peace between Israel and Palestine, despite the failures of Israeli, Jewish and Palestinian peace activists. This column was originally published in Arab News on Sept. 22, 2021

By Ray Hanania

Israeli officials this week reiterated their opposition to President Joe Biden’s plan to reopen the US Consulate in East Jerusalem in order to restore diplomatic channels and support for Palestinian interests.

After Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump threw the Middle East into turmoil by moving the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to West Jerusalem in May 2018, the US Consulate was “merged” with the embassy in March 2019, but formally ceased all operations.

Trying to unscramble the mess Trump made of Middle East peace, Biden had Secretary of State Antony Blinken announce the reopening of the consulate during meetings with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on May 25.

The move will help the US restore ties with the Palestinians and support the two-state solution.
Clearly, those goals are not shared by Israel’s government.

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Op-Ed writer, author, radio host, podcaster at The Arab Daily News

Ray Hanania is an award-winning columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.

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Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.

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