Trump Recognizes Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel

Trump signing the historic Jerusalem document
Source: http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2017/12/06/trump-signs-jerusalem-document-vo-wolf.cnn

The president, Donald Trump, has declared Israel's capital to officially be recognized as Jerusalem as of Wednesday, December 6th, 2017. Trump also announced his plans to to move the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv to the highly controversial Holy City. Many believe this will only further increase tension in that region.

Trump's statement: "Today we finally acknowledge the obvious: that Jerusalem is Israel's capital. This is nothing more or less than a recognition of reality. It is also the right thing to do. It's something that has to be done."


For the past seven decades the United State's foreign policy refused to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel until the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was resolved. Trump believes this is a step in the right direction to bring about peace in the Middle East.

The Holy City of  Jerusalem
 Source: http://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/171203231146-jerusalem-significance-lee-pkg-super-169.jpg

Trump has stated that his decision that the United States will recognize the city of Jerusalem to be the capital should not be taken as the U.S. taking a stance in regards to how the city will be shared. He has previously shared that he is an advocate for peace in the Middle East, but some fear this decision will only increase violence in that region.

Netflix Gets Rights to Air The Worthy

Netflix seems to be paying attention to the middle east's film industry with The Worthy.  They bought the global streaming rights to this movie.  The Worthy is a show from the United Arab Emirates that takes place in a post-apocalyptic future with a water shortage.  The movie is in spoken Arabic but will have subtitles for airing to other nations of course.  This is directed by UAE filmmaker Ali Mostafa but is produced by two American veterans, Peter Safran (The Conjuring) and Steven Schneider (Paranormal Activity).  It saw it's first release in Kuwait on February 23rd.  I was not aware of the film talents in the middle east until this article.  What's more interesting is that a United States streaming company and two American producers are involved with this movie.  Perhaps we will see more movies and television coming out of the middle east available for streaming.  It's an amazing time for the entertainment industry, without the Internet or convenient streaming services like Netflix, Americans or non-middle-easterners would probably never see this movie.  The middle east might get their own Hollywood like India's "Bollywood."  I'd love to see more interesting content and movies from other countries.

Netflix acquires rights for The Worthy

Urgent Medical Evacuation in Syria by UN

The United Nations is in the midst of desperate efforts to evacuate 500 Syrians, including 167 children, in Eastern Ghouta (a rebel-held area) due to urgent medical needs. The death toll has risen to nine in recent weeks as these citizens wait for government authorization to evacuate to hospitals.

"Collapsed buildings are seen after the Assad regime carried out air strikes in Eastern Ghouta, Damascus in Syria on 17 November 2017" (Source: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20171201-un-seeks-urgent-medical-evacuation-of-500-from-syrias-eastern-ghouta/)

Meanwhile, food shortages are contributing to malnutrition; which is heavily effecting children espcially. Rates regarding acute malnutrition among children has reached a shocking 12%. To put that number in perspective, this is about 6 times higher than what was reported in January and is 2% above the emergency threshold. Syria is also being bombarded with recent air and artillery attacks by government forces which has resulted in the death of dozens of civilians.

One of the 167 children in need of medical attention in Eastern Ghouta (Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-42186064)

The UN is pushing for world powers to get involved by helping with medical evacuations. So far, Russia, France, Iran, and the United States have come forward to assist at the weekly humanitarian meeting. The green light has still not been given for these evacuations, but efforts are being made to get the wounded and sick to safety.