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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Ray Hanania is an award winning political and humor columnist who analyzes American and Middle East politics, and life in general. He is an author of several books.
Hanania covered Chicago Politics and Chicago City Hall from 1976 through 1992 at the Daily Southtown and the Chicago Sun-Times. He began writing in 1975 publishing The Middle Eastern Voice newspaper in Chicago (1975-1977). He later published “The National Arab American Times” newspaper (2004-2007).
Hanania writes weekly columns on Middle East and American Arab issues as Special US Correspondent for the Arab News ArabNews.com, at TheArabDailyNews.com, and at SuburbanChicagoland.com. He has published weekly columns in the Jerusalem Post newspaper, YNetNews.com, Newsday, the Orlando Sentinel, Houston Chronical, and Arlington Heights Daily Herald.
Hanania is the recipient of four (4) Chicago Headline Club “Peter Lisagor Awards” for Column writing. In November 2006, he was named “Best Ethnic American Columnist” by the New American Media. In 2009, Hanania received the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi Award for Writing from the Society of Professional Journalists. He is the recipient of the MT Mehdi Courage in Journalism Award. He was honored for his writing skills with two (2) Chicago Stick-o-Type awards from the Chicago Newspaper Guild. In 1990, Hanania was nominated by the Chicago Sun-Times editors for a Pulitzer Prize for his four-part series on the Palestinian Intifada.
His writings have also been honored by two national Awards from ADC for his writing, and from the National Arab American Journalists Association.
Hanania is the US Special Correspondent for the Arab News Newspaper, covering Middle East and Arab American issues. He writes for the Southwest News newspaper group writing on mainstream American issues.
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