ISRAEL/PALESTINE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Lebanese security forces on Sunday [12-10-17] fired tear gas and water cannons into crowds that had gathered near the United States Embassy, in a sign that protests against President Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel may be escalating.
Thousands of protesters chanted slogans against Mr. Trump’s orders, which involves moving the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, with some throwing rocks and setting tires and a large trash container on fire outside the embassy’s highly secured gated compound in a suburb north of the capital, Beirut.
Some protesters tried to rip the barbed wire off a fence, but they were repelled by the security forces, who fired a barrage of tear gas and sent them running, with many choking from the smoke, vomiting or fainting.
Mr. Trump’s decision, which dealt a blow to the idea of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, has been widely condemned across the Arab world and beyond. The Arab League, which held an emergency meeting in Cairo, on Sunday denounced Mr. Trump’s announcement as a ‘dangerous violation of international law.’…
The Taliban, Hamas and Shia extremist leaders also vowed bloodshed after the move, though the Islamic State has played down its significance and criticized fellow extremist groups.
In Lebanon, Prime Minister Saad Hariri and President Michel Aoun both condemned Mr. Trump’s decision. Mr. Hariri said the United States move foreshadowed dangers for the region.”
-Nada Homsi and Anne Barnard, “Protests in Lebanon Near U.S. Embassy After Trump’s Jerusalem Decision,” The New York Times online, Dec. 10, 2017