By Leah Davis
A deep rift has remained even though Biden tried to exchange some warmth with Palestinians. Was it his controversial remark ‘You need not be a Jew to be a Zionist’, or was it the mere words he shared but failure to realise the plight of the Palestinian People that leaves Palestinians feeling helpless again?
Coming into office, the Biden administration was clear that the SWANA (Southwest Asia and North Africa) region would largely take a backseat in their foreign policy agenda. However, due to the May 2021 11-day war on Gaza, the Amnesty International Report among other human rights organizations reports stating Israel is enacting apartheid, the assassination of Shireen Abu Akleh, and the latest unprovoked attack on Palestinian civilians in August 2022 has forced the Israeli colonization and oppression of Palestinians back into the forefront of international attention. This has revealed the USA’s approach on the ongoing oppression of the Palestinian People.
President Biden and Secretary of State Blinken have indicated on numerous occasions that the two-state solution is the only way to resolve the ongoing oppression of the Palestinian People. However, the administration has not yet gone into any detail regarding such core issues as Jerusalem, final borders, refugees, right of return, or security. Instead, Biden has shown that he is content with the status quo, allowing Israel to continue expanding illegal settlements throughout the West Bank and East Jerusalem, consolidating control over the Palestinian political structure, and continuing the apartheid and oppression of the Palestinian People.
This was again shown with Biden’s latest visit to Apartheid Israel and Occupied Palestine. During his visit, Biden spent two days with the Israeli leaders and had a mere two-hour stopover in Bethlehem. Thus, leaving the Palestinian People with the feeling that the US a partner in Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands, whether by funding the Israeli war machine or by supporting Israel politically on the world stage.
During Biden’s two-hour visit in Occupied Palestine, Biden announced $316M USD aid for the Palestinian People. However, USA’s policy on the Israeli Occupation of Palestine has long been a point of bipartisan harmony, maintaining $3.8 billion USD in military funding using US tax-payer money to ‘Israel’ per year. A substantial difference in the one-time humanitarian aid for the Palestinian People versus the yearly billions of dollars sent to Israel’s military.
“What the Palestinian People got instead from Biden during his visit was nothing but vague statements with real no vision or hope.”
Palestinians appreciated the much-needed aid from the USA. But what the Palestinian People need is not just money, statements about peace or a statements on a two-state solution. The Palestinian People need equal human and civil rights. They need to be able to work, live, and travel in peace without the concern of Israeli apartheid, oppression, or occupation. The Palestinian People need the end of their continued ethnic cleansing, genocide and systematic racism built into the laws. Palestinians need sovereignty, removal of illegal Israeli settlements, and the end of the Israeli occupation.
The Palestinian People were hopeful Biden’s visit would lead to an announcement of the resumption of peace talks between the Israeli leadership and the Palestinian People. The Palestinian People also hoped to hear commitments for the reopening of the US consulate in East Jerusalem and the reopening of the PLO office in Washington. The Palestinian People wanted to see the removal of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) from the US list of terrorist organizations. They sought the commitment from the USA for an unbiased third-party investigation into the assassination of renowned Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and the holding the killer(s) accountable.
What the Palestinian People got instead from Biden during his visit was nothing but vague statements with real no vision or hope. Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian President, affirmed that the Palestinian People continue to extend their hands for peace with the Israelis. Unfortunately, the Israeli’s do not appear to want peace but rather to continue their colonization of Palestinian land, expand the illegal settlement and continue the apartheid against the Palestinian People.
There are many steps the Biden administration could take to address ongoing apartheid and prevent violent setbacks resulting from the occupation. Without a shift in the USA’s direction in holding the Israeli leaders accountable for their occupation and oppression of the Palestinian People, the US and the international community are likely to find themselves in a constant firefighting mode, frequently expending diplomatic, financial and political capital that never moves the occupation off its destructive path.
As Biden left Occupied Palestine, he left the Palestinian People in the same state when he arrived, under occupation, oppression, apartheid while facing continued ethic cleansing and genocide. The Palestinian People, however, continue to resist even under the global nuclear superpower with one of the most advanced militaries in the world.
The Palestine Observer 