Biden rebuked for asking Israel to halt violence against Palestinians until after his visit

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.

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.

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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.”

Israel has destroyed more than 1,200 Palestinian-owned structures in the occupied West Bank and left more than 1,600 Palestinians homeless since Biden came into office, according to UN data.

According to Israel's leading human rights group B'Tselem, more than 20,000 Palestinian-owned housing units are at risk of demolition in East al-Quds alone.

The regime in Tel Aviv has also continued its acts of violence against Palestinians across the occupied territories, including a wave of incursions, arrests, and arbitrary killings.

In the early hours of Friday morning, Israeli forces killed three young Palestinians and injured several others during a military raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the northern part of the West Bank.

Following Friday prayers, Israeli forces injured at least 78 people during protest rallies against the regime’s settler-colonial activities in the northern part of the occupied West Bank.

The protests, which have become a weekly affair, erupted in and around the West Bank city of Nablus, with Israeli regime forces using indiscriminate force to quell them.

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On Twitter, users also pointed to the Biden administration’s silence in the aftermath of the murder of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by Israeli forces.

“Could you stop murdering journalists, just for a little while? You can do it again once we leave,” wrote a user.

Abu Akleh, a veteran Palestinian journalist, was killed in cold blood last month in Jenin by the marauding Israeli troops while she was covering their raid. Her killing sparked global outrage and drew attention to Israeli crimes against Palestinians.

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