We are outraged by President Trump's decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital. The move should draw the unreserved contempt of those who want to see peace in the Middle East based on the two-state solution of the Palestine issue. Needless to say, President Trump's decision has serious implications for international security. The US, we are afraid, has made itself a party to the Palestine problem.

This move exposes the US' double standard with regard to Israel and Palestine, with past US presidents paying only lip service to the peace process which has long been in limbo. The Arab world must acknowledge this reality and close ranks to address it cohesively.

Official US recognition of the divided city of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel will serve, we hope, as a wakeup call to the Arab world, which, today, is sharply divided. While there have been public condemnations by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Jordan, the sad fact is that the Arab world is now more divided, with a part of it focused entirely on Iran.

It must be stressed that the US recognition of Jerusalem does not in any way validate Israel's illegal occupation of East Jerusalem but will nonetheless be a green signal to Israel to continue with its contentious policy of resettlement on disputed territory.

Jerusalem was the major issue in the stalled peace process where East Jerusalem was to be the capital city of a future Palestinian state, in the two-state solution. This announcement is the last nail in the coffin of that process. Major powers in the Arab world, which have aligned themselves to the US for short-sighted reasons, have been handed the short end of the stick, and it should now be clear to everyone, if not already so, that the interests of the Arabs shall always be subordinated to those of Israel's by the US.