The Trumpian Assault on Middle East Peace (Editorial January 2018)

Surah-20 Ta Ha/ Ayat 6: To Him belongs what is in the heavens and on earth, and all between them, and all beneath the soil.

Editorial for this month will focus, mainly, on two major issues; the first is Donald Trump’s announcement to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the illegitimate state of Israel and the second is a viable strategy for the upcoming CSS 2018 exam.

Let’s first take up the Trumpian assault on the Middle East peace.

Since his entry into the White House as the 45th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump has made a number of controversial decisions. Be it the withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord or putting a ban on the citizens of six Muslim states from entering the United States; he has repeatedly shown that he is a true believer of “My way or the highway.” In yet another act of belligerence and disregard to international law and norms, Mr Trump has announced to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. With this flagrant aggression, Mr Trump has, in fact, tried to bury the Two-State solution. This act will throw the already burning Middle East into the abyss of chaos and anarchy that would threaten the world peace.

As expected, President Trump’s decision attracted worldwide condemnation and rebuke. Many world leaders have chastised Trump for his recklessness and a complete disregard to legitimate demand of a peaceful solution to the chronic Palestine-Israel conflict. Even the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) with a 128-9 vote (with 35 abstentions) decisively backed a resolution that called on the US to withdraw its recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and affirmed that “any decisions and actions which purport to have altered the character, status or demographic composition of the Holy City of Jerusalem have no legal effect, are null and void and must be rescinded in compliance with relevant resolutions of the Security Council.”

But, unfortunately, response from the Muslim countries from the platform of Organization of Islamic Cooperation has been lukewarm, to say the least. The Istanbul summit of OIC, which was convoked by the Turkish President, failed to give a strong message to Trump and his bosom buddy Netanyahu as only 16 heads of state attended the meeting and only 30 of the 57 members of the OIC showed up. Those present opted only to “reject and condemn in the strongest terms the unilateral decision by the President of the United States America recognizing Al-Quds as the so-called capital of Israel, the occupying Power” and to “[d]eclare East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine …” It proved to be a damp squib so much so that even the Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu said that “all these statements fail to impress us.”

The Trumpian assault should have been an eye-opener for the Muslim leaders and they should have set their mutual differences aside for the greater interest of the Muslim Ummah. But, the Istanbul Summit has further exposed the divisions within the Muslim world. Faiz following verse aptly describes the situation as Muslims are still waiting for the time when their leaders will unite and become an effective voice in the world affairs:

As regards the second issue i.e. CSS-2018 exam, Jahangir’s World Times (JWT) is always at the forefront to offer only the right advice to the aspirants. Like previous years, this year, too, we have prepared some technical pieces of advice that would help aspirants in securing excellent marks in all subjects.

Passing the English Essay paper is always an uphill task in CSS exam. However, following suggestions will help you secure excellent marks in this very paper:

First of all, properly structure the outline for your essay. Remember to discuss all the points while writing the detailed Essay. FPSC’s ‘Examiners’ Reports’ suggest that most essays exhibit a sheer lack of conceptual clarity, so being clear in your concepts should be your topmost priority. Furthermore, do not commit grammatical mistakes; it’s no less than a crime in both English papers. The vocabulary you use in the essay should be relevant; you should know the jargon of the subject on which you are going to write essay. Avoid writing stereotype answers and write cohesive paragraphs, not isolated sentences. Your arguments should also be based on logical reasoning and research-based facts. You must also build an argument from multiple angles and substantiate it with facts.

For Précis paper, avoid repetition of ideas. If two main points carry the same message, one must be dropped. Sentences of the précis should be properly connected with each other. Write précis in third person and past tense. Focus especially on capitalization, punctuation and spellings. Do give the title even if it has not been asked for. And the thing of foremost importance is that you must not change the colour of the message the passage contains.

For all other subjects, never ever indulge in stereo-style writing. Your expression of ideas must be excellent and coherent and it must be substantiated by authentic facts and figures. Discuss an issue from various perspectives and do also give concrete, workable and constructive suggestions to ameliorate the situation under discussion.

Signing off with best wishes to all CSS 2018 aspirants!