Activists have rebuked the Joe Biden administration after it reportedly asked Israel to temporarily stop violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank until after the US president’s visit next month, predicting no change in Israeli atrocities owing to Washington’s unwavering support for the regime.
Faraan: Citing four Israeli, US, and Palestinian officials, Axios reported on Wednesday that the US had asked Israel to halt any actions in the occupied West Bank and al-Quds that could create tensions until after Biden’s visit in mid-July.
“The US wants the visit to take place in a good atmosphere – different than the one now,” Hussein al-Sheikh, who is in charge of Palestinian contact with the Biden administration, told the American news website Axios. “If the Israelis don’t stop their unilateral action the situation deteriorates and becomes much worse.”
A senior Israeli official also said the Biden administration wants “quiet and calm” and doesn’t want the regime to create any crisis in the West Bank. The report prompted a flood of comments on social media, with activists saying Israel will never stop its crimes against Palestinians due to US’s support for Israel regardless of what it does to Palestinians.
“US: Please refrain from home demolitions, forced expulsions, & settlement unit approvals & decrease the military presence in W Bank until after Biden visits,” Ariel Gold, the national co-director and senior Middle East policy analyst with CODEPINK for Peace, wrote in a tweet, interpreting Washington’s request.
She added, “Israel: Thanks for the suggestion, but since you support us regardless of what we do…”
Osama Abuirshaid, executive director of American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), told the Middle East Eye that the request indicates that the Biden administration has neither a vision nor a plan to deal with the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories.
“The administration may have decided that this was an issue that failed many American presidents before Biden, so taking a political risk seems unnecessary,” Abuirshaid said. Palestinian political analyst Nour Odeh said that the Biden administration’s request conveyed the message to Israel that “you can resume killing, dispossessing, and persecuting them without restrictions once Biden leaves.”
