Repeating the colonial mistakes of the past

As Americans, we should all be terrified of what President Joe Biden accomplished on his trip to the Middle East.  At first, we were offended because he sidestepped the plight of the Palestinian people who live under a brutal Israeli occupation, but as we watched him throughout this trip became apparent, it is much worse than what has been reported. It appears that President Biden came to the Middle East to implement the roadmap created by Benjamin Netanyahu. 

President Biden’s embrace of Jared Kushner’s Abraham Accord, and its mission to normalize the Israeli occupation, has created a new destructive Middle East. He is joining autocrats, and the most extreme elements of Apartheid Israel, to build a more militarized Middle East, where millions of people who live in the region will be collateral damage at the whims of mad men with catastrophic appetites for power. The only winners in this scenario are the defense industries and the military-industrial complex, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, and Apartheid Israel.  

Siding with dictators

The extreme Israeli government and Prince Mohammed Bin Salman must be overjoyed by President Biden’s embrace on this trip as it not only legitimized their crimes against humanity, but he rewarded them for their blatant killings of unarmed civilians under their care, including the killing of Americans Jamal Ahmad Khashoggi and Shireen Abu Akleh.

The U.S. architects of this fiasco have made many miscalculations and false assumptions, and exhibited a blatant failure to learn from the colonial mistakes of the past. They put their political interest and temporary power above the indigenous people who live in the region. They completely dismissed millions of people and viewed them as pawns in an imperialist system to plan, contain, divide, target and build alliances. 

Under the disguise of “peace in the Middle East,” they appear only focused on threatening Iran and increasing American and Israeli military might in the region. The sideshow of bringing the cooperation between Israel and Saudi Arabia together was a show for the ignorant of what has been covertly practiced in the region for years. 

President Biden and his advisors used the old assumptions that cutting deals with autocrats and supporters of Apartheid will bring prosperity and peace to a region. In the process they totally ignore the millions of people who live in the region who may erupt at any moment because of their desire for freedom. 

President Biden’s shortsighted mission and alliance with these oppressors did not surprise the Palestinians.  He wears his love for Zionism on his sleeve. He speaks human rights but ignores the humanity of the Palestinians and others as if their lives don’t matter. 

This outdated colonial policy may work with some leaders in the Middle East, however, the resolve of millions of people who view Israel as a colonial Apartheid state is clear and vocal: no peace in the Middle East until human rights for Palestinian people and their right for self-determination prevails.

Same as Trump

The language President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken used regarding Israel/Palestine may lead people to believe that our government is a champion of the oppressed. But the details tell another story. Biden is abiding by the same destructive and one-sided policy that Donald Trump advocated to protect Israel and stifle the lives of the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation. 

In preparation for his visit to the Middle East, the President and his top diplomats talked about their desire to address the issues of “human rights wherever they visit in the region.” Yet, they sidestepped any language about the oppression of the Palestinians. They tried to silence and whitewash any discussion about Israel’s intentional assassination of American Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and other journalists. Furthermore, they bragged about their iron-clad support of Israel by increasing their annual stipend to over $4 billion a year, at a time when our own U.S. economy and people are suffering. 

Instead of pushing for a viable two-state solution, the U.S. policy since 1993, he announced that the time is not ripe for talk. Yet, he did not find the irony of his action by rewarding Israel with more funds despite their continuous 1) building of illegal settlements 2) indiscriminate human rights violation of a mostly unarmed civilian population living under their occupation 3) and discrimination against American citizens when they travel to their Palestinian homeland.

In addition, standing shoulder to shoulder with Israel’s Prime Minister Yair Lapid, Biden demonized the Palestinians’ non-violent BDS movement, and adopted the dangerous practice labeling anyone who dares to point out the human rights violations of Palestinians at the hands of Israel as “antisemites.”  This counterproductive accusation only serves to silence those critical of Israel’s Apartheid policies, and will undermine calls to challenge genuine instances of antisemitism.

Through many meetings with our American administration officials, we have come to the conclusion that President Biden’s policies regarding Palestinian issues resemble the destructive policies of Trump. And during his visit, we realized that the policy is one and the same as dictated by Benjamin Netanyahu. 

Palestinian Americans respond

As Americans of Palestinian descent, what we don’t understand is how a President who prides himself for his record of human rights, whitewashes the practice of Apartheid facts on the ground while in Palestine. Or how he can dismiss the cries of the family of American/Palestinians Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who want justice for the assassination of their beloved daughter.

It is mystifying to think that President Biden confused the crippling of crumbs of a few dollars he granted to the Palestinians in the same manner he thinks as an honest broker of peace.  

President Biden is wrong when he stated, “In, Israel, we helped end a war in Gaza.”  What war? Israel attacked 1.8 million Palestinians who are caged in an open-air prison with limited artillery to defend themselves. This narrative of equal warring parties is pure propaganda taken from the extreme right-wing government of Israel. 

The double standard on how President Biden and Congress use regarding the occupation of Palestine gives credence to the U.S. critics who believe that the USA is a warmonger who sides with an Apartheid state over human rights.  

Our worry is that this trip will temporarily strengthen all the oppressors and enslave the oppressed—a formula that will come to hurt our country in the long run. It would have been better if Biden stayed in Washington. 

Our questions to President Biden and his administration are: How many civilians must die and become collateral damage to showcase our friendship to Apartheid Israel? How many countries must we destroy in the region to flex our military might? How many children must we slaughter to deflect and escape our domestic failures? How many women and men must we stifle in our bids and thirst for oil? 

Our advice to President Biden is simple, don’t equate the people in the region with autocrats and colonial puppets. Peace is not achieved by theft and inequality. Colonial powers will come and go, but the will of the indigenous people will never wear. 

Welcome home Mr. President. Please know, the people in the Middle East don’t want weak men with heavy artillery jammed down their throats to achieve peace. They want to live free in their own homelands.