Regardless of what US President Joe Biden’s tour to this region accomplished, or failed to accomplish, it threw into relief some glaring ironies regarding the Palestinian cause. The first irony is that the US is the only remaining world power to regard the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) as a terrorist entity. That was the pretext Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, used to close down the PLO office in Washington. So when Biden had an official meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is chairman of the PLO, was this not a meeting with the head of a terrorist organisation?
Secondly, Biden spoke of his commitment to the two-state solution. But he did not reopen the American Consulate in East Jerusalem, which had not been closed since 1944, which is to say before the creation of Israel, when Trump closed it. If there are to be two states, should there not be two embassies? Talk of a two-state solution should be backed up by steps towards that end, that is if it is not to remain just talk while the current single state status quo remains unchanged.
While Biden was in Israel, the matter of moving the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem was raised again. Ironically, the land designated for the construction of the new embassy was originally owned by Palestinians. Just ahead of Biden’s visit, Haaretz featured an article on the subject, complete with images of the documents several Palestinian families have submitted to the authorities proving that the land belonged to them. The documents include dozens of deeds and rental contracts between the families and the tenants, which included the British mandate authorities. Israel confiscated these properties using one of those mechanisms with which has wrongfully seized countless other Palestinian properties.
Yet another irony relates to protocol, though it is no less significant for that. During Biden’s movements here and there in Israel, the Israeli and American flags fluttered side by side on the presidential car known as “The Beast.” When he went to East Jerusalem and Bethlehem, the Israeli flag was removed in acknowledgement of the fact that those territories were not part of Israel. Yet, in his speech in Jerusalem, Biden said, “I am honoured to be back here in the capital of Isreal.” Under the two-state solution, East Jerusalem is to be the capital of the independent Palestinian state.
What are we to make of these ironies? Are they just slips of an elderly man’s tongue? Or are they the types of paradox that underscore the frequent contradiction between Washington’s stated positions and its actual policies?
*A version of this article appears in print in the 28 July, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.
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