As Biden Visits, Palestinians Reminded of Their Descent into Autocracy

(Washington Post) Shira Rubin - When President Biden visits Bethlehem on Friday, he will arrive in a region that has descended deeper into autocracy. Biden will meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, 86, the deeply unpopular president who has stretched his four-year term into a 17-year stint thanks to canceled elections. Palestinian security forces crack down on dissent in any form. The Biden administration has restored $500 million in financial aid to the Palestinians that was cut off by President Trump. Omar Abu Habib, 32, from the West Bank village of Salfit, said the two-state solution Biden supports, in which an independent Palestinian state would be established alongside Israel, is "impossible." "The only solution is for all the Jews to go," referring to the land that includes Israel, "and to do that, we need armed resistance, like in Gaza." According to the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, only 28% of Palestinians support a two-state solution and 55% would welcome a return of confrontations between Israel and the Palestinians.


2022-07-14 00:00:00

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