Beirut Protests Against Trump's Jerusalem Decision Turn Violent

Four days after the U.S. recognized Jerusalem as the "capital of Israel" and Donald Trump's order to begin the process of relocating the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, protests and demonstrations continued in several countries around the world on Sunday, December 10. The protests in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, turned violent. Hundreds of Lebanese protesters clashed with security forces in front of the U.S. embassy in Beirut, who were trying to prevent the demonstrators from approaching the embassy building. The protesters attempted to breach the security forces' barriers to get closer to the embassy. According to reports, the police used water cannons to disperse the protesters. The Lebanese police's response to the demonstrators comes as the Beirut government has harshly criticized the U.S. decision and called for Arab countries to take practical steps against the U.S. According to Reuters, Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil proposed during an emergency Arab League foreign ministers' meeting on Saturday night that these governments consider "imposing diplomatic, political, and economic sanctions against the U.S." The Arab League foreign ministers, in their final resolution from the emergency meeting in Cairo early Sunday, called on the U.S. to reconsider its decision, emphasizing that Washington has disqualified itself from being an honest broker with this decision. Meanwhile, Arab media reported that Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, King Abdullah II of Jordan, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi will hold a tripartite meeting on Tuesday to discuss the situation following the U.S. decision; Egypt had previously warned the U.S. about the "consequences" of its decision. The Jordanian parliament also unanimously called on its government on Sunday to reconsider its peace relations with Israel and permanently close the Israeli embassy in Amman; 24 Jordanian parliament members also announced an initial plan to take practical action against U.S. measures. King Abdullah II described the widespread Palestinian protests during "Friday of Rage" in Amman as stemming from "feelings of pride." Jordan and Israel have had full peace relations for 23 years, but the Israeli embassy in Amman has effectively been closed for several months, and Jordan has stated it is unwilling to accept the Israeli ambassador again until that country prosecutes the guard responsible for the killing of two Jordanians. Protests against the U.S. decision began early Sunday in Far East countries like Indonesia and Malaysia; the number of demonstrators in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, marching near the U.S. embassy was estimated to be at least ten thousand. Protests then continued throughout the day in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey, and Lebanon. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan emphasized on Sunday that his country would "fight with all its might" against the U.S. action regarding Jerusalem, which is a "red line for Muslims," and that Turkey does not value the U.S. decision. Erdoğan called Israel a "terrorist country" and a "child-killing government" that "sacrifices Palestinians," even though Turkey has full diplomatic relations with Israel at the ambassador level; however, he threatened last week that he might cut these relations. Protests in Turkey were also ongoing on Saturday night; however, police arrested 12 protesters in Istanbul for carrying placards that did not comply with "Turkish laws." Within the Palestinian territories, Hamas had called for Palestinians to resume their protests and actions on Sunday. Hamas hopes that these protests will lead to an intifada, but in the initial days following the U.S. announcement, the general Palestinian public showed little interest in this call, and their protests in Gaza, the West Bank, and especially in East Jerusalem were very limited. Nevertheless, on Sunday, some clashes occurred in several areas along the contact lines between Palestinians and Israeli forces in the West Bank, although the scale remained limited to stone-throwing by a few teenagers and young people towards Israeli forces and the soldiers' reactions. Hamas also stated that it would take revenge for two members of its military wing who were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Saturday night. Israel stated that after Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza on Saturday evening, its fighter jets bombed Hamas targets in Gaza. Meanwhile, shortly after noon on Sunday, Yasin Abulqara, a 24-year-old Palestinian from Nablus, attacked a security guard at the central bus terminal at the entrance to Jerusalem with a knife, severely wounding him. The 35-year-old Israeli guard was transferred to a hospital in Jerusalem for surgery due to "severe wounds" to the heart; Gilad Erdan, Israel's Minister of Public Security, attributed the attack to "incitement by the Palestinian Authority." The attacker initially managed to escape but was subdued by a police officer and a passerby who handed him over to security forces. The attacker had written on Facebook shortly before the attack, "Jerusalem flows in our hearts and blood; our blood is sacrificed for Al-Quds." On Saturday night, Arabs in parts of cities under Israeli control protested, with some areas turning violent. According to Israeli media, Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's Defense Minister, criticized the Arab protesters and urged Jews to refrain from dealing with these Arabs to "boycott" them, a call that faced criticism from Israeli Arabs.