“Biden’s visit really doesn’t do any good“, believes Dimitri Diliani, member of the revolutionary council of Fatah. In Ramallah, administrative capital of the Palestinian Authority, nobody speaks of the visit of the American president on the occasion of his tour in the Middle East. Joe Biden meets, this Thursday, July 14, Prime Minister Yair Lapid, President Isaac Herzog and the leader of the opposition, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.The Head of State will then take the road to the West Bank for an interview on Friday with the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem.
>> “Donald Trump has shown that he loves Israel very much”: in the colonies, Joe Biden’s visit does not arouse enthusiasm
The Palestinian Authority did present five requests to the American president: re-establishment of a political horizon, reopening of the American consulate in East Jerusalem, pressure on the Israelis, restoration of financial aid, removal of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from the list of terrorist organizations. But the Palestinians do not expect much from this visit. Few are interested in it, because the frustration persists. American discourses with regard to the Palestinians resemble each other, year after year. Dimitri Diliani of the revolutionary council thus denounces the “far too optimistic and unrealistic statements made by the helpless and hopeless Palestinian Authority”. A “wish list”according to him.
Dimitri Diliani asks for action: “VSProblems are major obstacles to peace. They require at least four or five days of continuous discussions.” There are many who, like him, only see Joe Biden as a supporter of Israel, someone who will only consolidate the status quo – occupancy.
“His objective is clearly to try to create a military and intelligence alliance between Israel and certain Arab countries to the detriment of the Palestinians”, annoys Mustafa Barghouti, co-founder of the Palestinian National Initiative. And if there is something wrong with the Palestinians, it’s American military aid to the Israeli army: Washington grants four billion dollars to it every year.