Change of tone in Biden's visit to the Middle East: from the warm embrace of Israel to the demonstrations in Palestine. The president of the United States, Joe Biden, assured this Friday that the Palestinian people deserve their own state and promised that he will continue working to reactivate the peace process between Palestinians and Israelis, although he acknowledged that the ground is not "fertile" now. The US president made these statements together with the president of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), Mahmoud Abas, at the presidential palace in the West Bank city of Bethlehem.
He also announced an aid of 201 million dollars for the programs that the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, so that since he came to power in January 2021 the president has given that agency more than 618 million dollars. Shortly before, he had visited a hospital in East Jerusalem from where he promised the Palestinian hospital network a $100 million financial and technical aid package over several years.
Biden arrived in Israel on Wednesday for a three-day visit, as part of a brief tour that took him to the West Bank and then to Saudi Arabia today. In these days, Israel and the United States have signed a declaration that reaffirms her "unbreakable ties" and Biden received the Presidential Medal of Honor "for her true friendship with the State of Israel and the Jewish people."
Hundreds of Palestinians yesterday took to the streets of the West Bank and Gaza Strip to protest against the visit of the US president, as they believe that the president advocates Israeli interests to the detriment of the Palestinians.
In the meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abas, he acknowledged that the creation of an independent Palestinian state remains a distant prospect, as there are no new opportunities in sight to start talks with Israel.
"Even if the ground is not fertile right now to restart negotiations, the United States and my administration will not stop trying to bring both sides closer together," Biden said. Abbas, for his part, said the prospects for a two-state solution to the conflict, the model favored by the United States and world bodies including the UN, were fading and the opportunity "might not remain for long." "Isn't it time for this occupation to end?" Abas claimed.
Abbas called for Biden's support in bringing to justice the killers of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American citizen who was killed during an Israeli raid in the West Bank city of Jenin. On this issue, Biden called on Israel for a "complete" and "transparent" investigation of her death and promised that her government will continue to pursue that goal. Biden considered that the death of Akleh, whose name he did not pronounce correctly, represents a "huge loss" for the essential work that implies "telling the world the story of the Palestinian people."
As Biden spoke in Bethlehem, on an empty chair in the room was a photo of the journalist on which was written in Arabic: "The Voice of Palestine" and several of the journalists who covered the press conference wore black T-shirts with the phrase "Justice for Shireen". An investigation by Washington concluded that she was probably killed by an Israeli soldier, though they say they have no reason to believe the killing was intentional. Many Palestinians accuse Israel of assassinating Abu Akleh, a charge Israel denies. Israel says it is still investigating her murder.
The Palestinian leader also reiterated demands that the United States open a consulate in East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want as the capital of a future independent state, remove the Palestine Liberation Organization from a list of terrorist groups and allow it to reopen a Washington office.
Prior to his visit, Palestinian leaders had accused Biden of prioritizing Israel's integration into a regional security agreement with Arab countries over their concerns, including self-determination and continued Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank, occupied after a war in 1967.
Biden acknowledged that after years of failed attempts to resolve the conflict, Palestinians living under onerous restrictions in the occupied West Bank and Gaza are suffering. "You can feel... the pain and the frustration," she pointed out.
The atmosphere that greeted Biden in the occupied West Bank was very different from the warm reception he received in Israel, where he was greeted as an old friend and awarded the Presidential Medal of Honor. As he was driven to the presidential palace in Bethlehem, signs reading "Mr. President, this is apartheid" could be seen along the route, a reference to the charge by local and international rights groups that the occupation of the West Bank by of Israel has created a system of apartheid.
