A lot of people in the US and around the world are celebrating the victory of President-elect Joe Biden over US President Donald Trump this week.
Biden’s victory was hailed as a win not just for Democrats, but a victory over racism, white supremacy, Islamophobia, transphobia, and all the other things that the Trump presidency represented for so many people.
In just four years, President Trump’s time in office has had a significant impact not just on US citizens, but the daily lives of people around the world, like Iranian citizens, Syrian refugees and others affected by the “Muslim ban,” and of course, Palestinians.
Trump dealt significant blows to Palestinians, their leadership, and and their cause over the past few years: recognizing occupied Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, moving the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, pulling millions of dollars in funding for organizations like USAID, UNRWA, and the Palestinian Authority, changing US foreign policy to recognize Israeli settlements as legal, giving Israel the greenlight for annexation, and promoting his “Peace to Prosperity” plan in the region — to name a few.
It goes without saying, that Trump’s loss has come as a relief to many Palestinians, especially those in leadership positions, who hope that a Biden presidency would see the return of crucial financial aid to the PA, and ease some of the economic strain currently being felt by the Palestinian public.
Palestinians told Mondoweiss however, that while Trump has been one of, if not the worst, US presidents ever when it comes to Palestine, they don’t really expect things to get drastically better under Biden.
In a cafe in Bethlehem, a group of Palestinian friends were talking about the US elections, and how they think the next four years might go, compared to the last.
“Trump was horrible for us, that’s for sure, I think everyone agrees on that,” Munther Amira, a local activist, told Mondoweiss.
“But do we honestly think Biden is going to be better for us than any other President, like Obama? I don’t think so,” he said.
The group launched into a discussion about Biden’s expressed support for Israel, and repeated declarations of being a Zionist himself, pointing to a video that has been circulating widely on Palestinian social media since Biden’s win, showing the President elect saying “If there weren’t an Israel, the United States would have to invent an Israel,” and “my father pointed out to me i did not need to be a Jew to be a Zionist.”
While Amira said that a return of financial aid to the PA and other essential agencies like UNRWA would undoubtedly improve the quality of life for thousands of Palestinian families on the ground, he doesn’t expect much in terms of progressive policy changes that support Palestinian rights and justice.
“I think Biden is going to return us back to the days of Obama, where the US maintained the facade of being an honest peace broker, but in reality was still supporting fully Israel and the Zionist agenda,” Amira said.
He pointed out that a return to the “facade” of the Obama days poses a different kind of danger than the ones posed by the Trump administration.
“If Trump did anything positive, he lifted the veil off the false pretense that the US cared about Palestinian rights,” Amira said. “But with Biden, we’d just be going back to that false sense of security.”
Sajida Allan echoed similar sentiments, saying that Palestinians only had to look to the days of Obama, where Israel was given billions of dollars in military funding, to see how the next four years under Biden might go.
“Biden was Obama’s Vice President, and Obama did nothing to solve the Palestinian cause or our issues on the ground,” she told Mondoweiss.
“Biden has already made his position clear as a Zionist, and has said for example that he’s not going to reverse Trump’s decision to move Israel’s Embassy to Jerusalem, which was a huge blow to us as Palestinians, and our rights over Jerusalem,” she continued.
Biden’s foreign policy history in the region, Allan said, has proven that Biden will “first and foremost support Israel over the Palestinians.”
Allan said that while she hopes a Biden presidency will be better for the American public and all marginalized groups in the US than Trump was, Palestinians have “little to no hope left” for the US government to support them and their struggle for justice.
Palestinians and supporters of their cause took to social media to express a lot of the same sentiment: that Biden may be better for some Americans, but not necessarily for them.
Others highlighted that Biden’s Vice President-elect Kamala Harris was also an outspoken supporter of Israel and self-proclaimed Zionist, and was likely to use her influence to push heavily pro-Israel policies.
In a comedic video posted on TikTok, one Palestinian user posted a video in Arabic and English saying when people ask him ‘Trump or Biden’ he responds by saying it’s the equivalent of getting asked if you prefer ‘diarrhea or constipation’. “It’s still shit,” he says.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/09/world/middleeast/biden-israel.html?smid=em-share
New York Times, November 9/20, by David M. Halbfinger
EXCERPTS:
“Biden’s Win Means a Demotion for Netanyahu and Less Focus on Israel.”
“Benjamin Netanyahu has made his closeness to President Trump, who gave him much of what he wanted, central to his political appeal. Things will be different in a Biden administration.”
“Mr. Netanyahu seemed unusually flummoxed by Mr. Biden’s win: It took him 12 hours after the race was called to offer perfunctory congratulations on Twitter, without naming the office Mr. Biden had won, followed quickly by an effusive expression of gratitude to Mr. Trump. There was speculation across the Israeli political spectrum that Mr. Netanyahu feared retribution from Mr. Trump if he complimented Mr. Biden more wholeheartedly.
“Shimrit Meir, an Israeli analyst who is well sourced in Mr. Netanyahu’s circle, said the prime minister and his allies were in ‘deep denial.'”
“Looming large, however, are questions about Iran. Mr. Biden has spoken of showing Tehran a ‘path back to diplomacy,’ offering to re-enter the Obama administration’s nuclear deal if Iran returns to strict compliance. Mr. Netanyahu crusaded against the agreement and cheered Mr. Trump’s withdrawal from it.
“In contrast to Mr. Trump’s favoritism toward Israel, Mr. Biden has promised a return to a more balanced approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
For whatever it’s worth – maybe not much – the New York Times just posted a speculative piece on Biden/Israel: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/09/world/middleeast/biden-israel.html
Shimrit Meir, an Israeli analyst who is well sourced in Mr. Netanyahu’s circle, said the prime minister [Netanyahu] and his allies were in “deep denial.”…In contrast to Mr. Trump’s favoritism toward Israel, Mr. Biden has promised a return to a more balanced approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict….Israeli officials say they also expect Mr. Biden to work to preserve the viability of a future Palestinian state, which is at odds with Mr. Netanyahu’s moves to expand Jewish settlements on the West Bank or even annex them….“Washington is now holding all the cards,” Mr. Pfeffer said. “They don’t have to pick a fight on settlements or Iran. They can do a lot of damage just by ignoring Bibi. The real question is, do Biden and his team have any interest in making Bibi’s life hell?”…Martin Indyk, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, wrote acidly on Twitter that while Mr. Netanyahu had indeed known Mr. Biden for nearly 40 years, “it’s also true that @JoeBiden has known @netanyahu for nearly forty years.”
I don’t understand why the palestinians would choose to accept money from a country that they hate and believe is against them. Taking money from your enemy seems crazy.
Biden will not be a 180 degree change from Trump. At most he may be like Obama and as this article says, Obama was not good for the palestinians, so why accept their money and then they feel like they are owed something.
In order for palestinians to be free they must only rely on themselves. Israel also should stop taking money from the US.
Everyone will have their take but I find this article demoralizing. If Palestinians expect justice to be delivered to them by an American President, god help them and their support system.
I found Trump more of a danger to Americans than to Palestinians. Now I’m not so sure both are not equally in danger. Its plausible from Trump’s perspective, Abbas’refusal to deal may have cost him the Presidency. He may exact revenge in his last couple moths. He started off stating he wanted to be the greatest, “do what no other President had been able to do”, bring IP peace in his first term (and ME peace in his second). That he’d be good with a deal “both sides agreed” on.
IMO, he calculated Netanyahu didn’t want a deal and besides the 2SS was no longer plausible, that apartheid would not long stand, and to move to a workable one state, he’d need leverage on Israel. When he eventually made his move, Abbas proved irrational, emotions took over, he cut Trump off and insulted him. Trump kept his cool and asked him to deal, requesting a counter proposal. Then he stated clearly if the tantrum continued he’d cut funding. Abbas wasn’t listening or hearing. Who cut the funding?
I seriously doubt Biden will have confidence in Palestinians, the power, or be willing to gamble his Presidency by pressuring Israel. I reason public opinion is the Palestinian’s only path forward. They are going to have to develop it to obtain what is rightfully theirs. I see no way other than by upping their game, becoming players, not observers. I reason one state under apartheid will not survive when human rights becomes the only focus.