Biden reaffirms commitment to a two-state solution after Abbas meeting

President Joe Biden reaffirmed his commitment to the two-state solution as he met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas Friday in Bethlehem. 

Biden also called the death of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh an ‘enormous loss’ that needed to be investigated, as he was greeted with calls of ‘Justice for Shireen,’ including from Abbas, all morning as he traveled through East Jerusalm and to the occupied West Bank. 

‘As I stand with you today, now as president of the United States, my commitment to that goal of a two-state solution has not changed in all these years,’ Biden said, standing alongside Abbas.  ‘The Palestinian people deserve a state of their own that’s independent, sovereign, viable and contiguous.’ 

Speaking first and through a translator, the 86-year-old Abbas asked Biden: ‘Mr. President, after 74 years of al Nakba, the displacement and occupation, isn’t it time for this occupation to end?’ 

‘And for our steadfast people again to gain their freedom and independence and for the hopes of our young men and women who we cherish and trust their creativity to achieve a promising future without occupation?’ Abbas added. 

‘Nakba’ is the term Palestinians use – meaning ‘catastrophe’ – when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled in the war surrounding Israel’s creation. 

‘In this regard, we say that the key to peace and security in our region begins with recognizing the state of Palestine and enabling the Palestinian people to obtain their legitimate rights in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions and ending all the permanent status issues including the Palestinian refugees issues – and the way to that begins with ending the Israeli occupation of our land,’ Abbas continued. 

Abbas said that Palestine should be drawn along the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. 

Biden later mentioned the same borders but with ‘mutually-agreed-to swaps.’

He also told Biden the U.S. should reopen an consulate in East Jerusalem and remove the Palestine Liberation Organization from the foreign terrorist list.

‘We are not terrorists,’ Abbas stated. ‘And also we also look forward to reopening a PLO office in Washington,’ he added. 

‘Mr. President, we look forward to the efforts of your administration to turn the page on the Israeli occupation of our land and the acts of racial discrimination apartheid against our people and to stop unilateral actions that undermine the two-state solution,’ Abbas said. 

Biden was greeted with considerable pomp as he arrived to the occupied West Bank.

The Palestinians rolled out the red carpet in Bethlehem – literally – as Biden and Abbas reviewed the troops and national anthems were played outside the Palestinian Muqataa Presidential Compound.

Biden opened his own statement by calling Abbas a ‘friend.’

‘We can count ourselves among the earliest supporters of a two-part solution,’ Biden said. ‘Two states for two people – both of whom have deep and ancient roots in this land.’

He said a two-state solution was about ‘dignity’ – a word he often associates with human rights.

‘I know that the goal of the two-state seems so far away while indignities like restrictions on movement and travel, or the daily worry of your children’s safety are real and they are immediate,’ the president said.

‘The Palestinian people are hurting now. you can just feel it. Your grief and frustration. In the United States we can feel it,’ he continued.

‘But we never give up on the work of peace,’ Biden added.

Biden said it was important for there to be a ‘political horizon that the Palestinian people can actually see or at least feel.’

‘We can’t allow the hopelessness to steal away the future that so many have worked toward for so long,’ the president said.

‘So even if the group is not ripe at this moment to restart negotiations the United States and my administration will not give up on trying to bring the Palestinians and Israelis and both sides closer together,’ he added.

Biden also emphasized that Israel normalizing relations with Arab neighbors should be seen as an opportunity, not a defeat.

‘I do believe that in this moment when Israel is improving relations with neighbors throughout the region, we can harness that same momentum to reinvorgate the peace process between the Palestinian people and the Israelis,’ Biden said.

After his meeting with Abbas, Biden will fly Air Force One directly between Tel Aviv and Jeddah – becoming the first American president to do so between those two cities – as Saudi opened its skies to all civilian aircraft earlier Friday.

Biden also called on the Israelis to improve the lives of Palestinians today – from offering things like 5G services and access to renewable energy.

In turn, he encouraged the Palestinians to showcase good governance.

Both Abbas and Biden brought up the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Akleh.

In the room where they wre speaking was an empty chair among the Palestinian press corps with her image on it, along with the words: ‘The voice of Palestine.’

At an earlier hospital stop and along the motorcade route, there were also asks of ‘Justice for Shireen,’ after Akleh was shot and killed in May while covering a raid by the Israel Defense Forces.

Several Palestinian journalists covering Biden wore t-shirts with Akleh’s face on them.

Abbas listed the killing of Akleh among a number of trangressions at the hands of the Israelis.

‘Stopping the expulsion of Palestinians, demolishing houses, homes and storming the cities, villages and camps and stopping the daily killing and arrests, on a daily basis – and holding the killers of the martyred journalist Shireen Abu Akleh they need to be held accountable,’ Abbas said.

Biden brought up Akleh when speaking of the many deaths of Israelis and Palestinians just this year due to the continued conflict.

‘And the United States has suffered loss as well. Including the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh,’ Biden said. ‘She was an American, an American citizen, and a proud Palestinian, and she was performing very vital work in an independent media, and vital work of democracy.’

‘Her death is an enormous loss to the essential work of sharing with the world the story of the Palestinian people, he continued. ‘I hope that her legacy, her legacy will inspire more young people to carry on her work of reporting the truth and telling stories that are too often overlooked.’

‘The United States will continue to insist on a full and transparent accounting of her death and will continue to stand up to media freedom everywhere in the world,’ the president stated.

Biden is not expected to meet with the journalist’s family members while on his four-day Middle East trip.

Biden’s first stop of the day was a visit to Augusta Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem announcing he will ask Congress to fund $100 million for healthcare services for the hospital network, which serves the Palestinian population.

‘Palestinians and Israelis deserve equal measure of freedom, security, prosperity and dignity and access to healthcare, when you need it, is essential to living a life of dignity for all of us,’ the president said during brief remarks.

Biden followed in the footsteps of his wife, First Lady Jill Biden, who had visited the hospital twice before.

His visit, according to the hospital’s CEO and East Jerusalem Hospital Network Secretary General Dr. Fadi Atrash, was ‘bringing hope to thousands of Palestinians.’

‘We Palestinians are same like Americans,’ Atrash said. ‘We have our own dream that we want to achieve. And for this we need hope, justice, freedom and support from friends like you in America and all over the world.’

‘We are extremely, extremely happy to have you and you are most welcome, Mr. President,’ Atrash added.

When Biden took over the podium he talked about being Irish-American, likening the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to Irish Catholics’ relationship with Great Britain.

He then asked, ‘Are there any nurses in the room?’

‘Because if not, I’m going home,’ the president said to laughs. ‘If there are any angels in heaven – no, no, no I mean this sincerely from the bottom of my heart.’

‘My wife and daughter were killed and my boys were trapped in a vehicle for there hours when a tractor-trailer hit them – the doctor saved their lives, but the nurses made them want to live,’ Biden said.

The president talked about his own healthcare challenges, double aneurysms with an embolism on top of that.

‘I joked the reason they went in twice to take the top of my head off is they couldn’t find a brain the first time,’ Biden said.

In a more serious tone he added, ‘I don’t think you nurses are nearly appreciated enough.’

He recalled being in the intensive care unit – saying he had never made these comments publicly before.

‘And you look at the monitors and you know if the line goes flat you’re dead,’ the president said. ‘But you just get tired, even when you’re not in pain, you just want to quit.’

‘And the nurses at Walter Reed Hospital. Would come up, and they’d rub my face, they’d whisper in my ear. They’d get close and tell me, it’s going to be OK. They made a difference in my life,’ he said.

He then turned to his late son Beau Biden, who died of Glioblastoma in 2015, which the president said he believed was a product of his son’s service in Iraq, as the Delaware attorney general was sleeping close to burn pits.

‘He should be the man talking to you as president, not me,’ Biden remarked.

The president then turned back to the business at hand – announcing the $100 million commitment to the Palestinian healthcare system.

‘Working together, it is my prayer the United States will both relieve the hospital’s burden of debt, and support targeted infrastructure updates and key reforms in patient care, to ensure longterm financial stability,’ he said.

‘We also welcome the $25 million contribution from the UAE. And I encourage other nations around the region and around the world to step up as well with their own contributions to support the vital work that’s being done here,’ the president added.

He said that the ‘United States will continue to work with the Palestinian leadership, with the government of Israeli and with all our international partners to ensure that East Jerusalem’s hospital network retains sustainable, remains available and is able to provide high-quality care the Palestinian people deserve.’

Biden’s last stop before departing for Saudi Arabia was to the Church of the Nativity.

The visit, the White House said, was to ‘underscore support for Christians who face challenges across the region.’

There, he met privately with Church Patriarchs, the White House said, and received a tour of the mosaics and the church’s architecture.