No peace plan for Palestine, only words from Biden in Beit Lahm
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US President Joe Biden concludes his visit to occupied Palestine by granting the Israeli occupation new security agreements and ignoring Palestine's right to independence.
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US President Joe Biden and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speak together after their statements to the media at the Muqataa Presidential Compound in Beit Lahm, occupied West Bank, occupied Palestine, July 15, 2022 (AFP)
At the end of US President Joe Biden's first leg to West Asia, he pledged from Ramallah on Friday to uphold his efforts to bring "peace" to occupied Palestine amid the Israeli aggression that has been ongoing for decades, though his version of peace does not include putting an end to the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.
Amid his promises, Biden offered no new proposals to bring back to life the political dialogue between Palestine and the Israeli occupation, though even that would go against what the Palestinian people want.
Biden's visit to Ramallah did not see him offering any solutions or even condemning "Israel's" occupation of Palestine. He only pledged a multi-year $100 million package of financial and technical help for a hospital in occupied Al-Quds.
After a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Beit Lahm, Biden said the creation of an "independent Palestine" was a distant prospect in light of Ramallah not having an immediate prospect of talks with "Tel Aviv".
"Even if the ground is not ripe at this moment to restart negotiations, the United States and my administration will not give up on trying to bring... both sides closer together," he said.
Abbas said the prospects for a "two-state solution" regarding the Palestinian cause was receding, and the opportunity "may not remain for a long time". The Palestinian leader also asked, "Is it not time for this occupation to end?"
The Palestinian president then demanded the United States open a consulate in occupied Al-Quds, which Palestine seeks to have as its capital following the end of the Israeli occupation. Abbas also asked the United States to remove the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from a list of "terrorist groups" and allow the governmental agency to re-open an office.
The leader also called on his US counterpart to haul into court the killers of veteran Al Jazeera Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, whom the Israeli occupation murdered in the occupied West Bank during a raid the IOF was launching on Jenin.
Ahead of Biden's visit, Abbas said the US president was prioritizing Israeli interests and its integration into a regional security arrangement with Arab states above Palestine's concerns, which include self-determination and the continued expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Biden, in a bid to seem like he sympathizes with the Palestinian people, whose oppression is done at the hands of his allies, said: "You could feel... the grief and frustration," regarding the people suffering in the occupied West Bank and Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip.
In addition to the meager amount of money pledged for the hospitals in occupied Al-Quds in comparison to the funds allocated to the Israeli occupation's forces each year, Biden will announce measures to upgrade telecommunication networks in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip to 4G standards by 2023.
In the visit that saw Biden doing nothing but pledging funds for Palestinians, the US president unveiled that there would be an additional $201 million in funding provided by the UN refugee agency UNRWA to help Palestinian refugees.
Biden claimed that the United States would continue to seek accountability for Abu Akleh's death after US authorities concluded that she was killed by an Israeli soldier. However, the admission to Israeli accountability is missing something: the fact that Washington said it had no reason to believe that the killing was intentional.
Following his meeting with Abbas and the remarks he gave in Beit Lahm, Biden took off from occupied Palestine toward the second leg of his tour, Saudi Arabia.
He arrived at Al-Lydd's Ben Gurion Airport on Wednesday, where he was received by high-ranking Israeli officials on his first official visit to occupied Palestine as President before holding talks with Israeli occupation Prime Minister Yair Lapid and other senior officials.
His visit to Saudi Arabia will see the US leader try and mend ties with Saudi Arabia to persuade Riyadh and other Gulf allies to pump out more oil in the markets as the Biden administration faces mounting criticism over the soaring oil prices.
Read more: Macron tells Biden that UAE, KSA can barely raise oil output
Biden signed the "Jerusalem Declaration", which capped his first visit to "Israel" as President. The signing came after he told a local TV station that he was open to "last resort" use of force against Iran - an apparent move toward accommodating Israeli calls for world powers to provide a "credible military threat."
The Declaration, issued to the public ahead of a formal signing ceremony on Thursday, emphasized the United States' unwaning support for "Israel's" regional military advantage and ability to "defend itself alone."
