Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas rolls out the red carpet for Biden in Bethlehem amid calls for ‘justice’ for slain Al-Jazeera journalist and American citizen Shireen Abu Akleh
- President Joe Biden was greeted with considerable pomp as he met with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas Friday in 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
- Biden shook hands with the 86-year-old Abbas, who heads the Palestinian Authority, prior to a private meeting
- An empty chair for slain Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was in the room where Biden and Abbas would later give remarks
President Joe Biden was greeted with considerable pomp as he met with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas Friday in 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 shook hands with the 86-year-old Abbas, who heads the Palestinian Authority that administers parts of the occupied West Bank and cooperates with Israel on security.
They then held a private meeting.
In the room where the leaders would give remarks afterward was an empty chair facing the podium with a picture of slain Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh on it.
Akleh was wearing a bullet-proof vest in the image, and the words ‘The voice of Palestine,’ were written in Arabic on the picture.
At an earlier hospital stop and along the motorcade route, there were also asks of ‘Justice for Shireen,’ after Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu 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.
Biden is not expected to meet with the journalist’s family members while on his four-day Middle East trip.
President Joe Biden (left) stands alongside Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (center) during a welcoming ceremony Friday to the Palestinian Muqataa Presidential Compound in the city of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank
President Joe Biden (center), wearing his trademark aviators, participates in an arrival ceremony Friday in Bethlehem to the Palestinian Muqataa Presidential Compound for a meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas
President Joe Biden was greeted with considerable pomp for his meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. He participated in a troops review and a ceremony where national anthems were played
President Joe Biden (left) shakes the hand of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (right) Friday during a visit to the West Bank
A reporter wears a shirt requesting justice for slain Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh at President Joe Biden’s stop at Augusta Victoria Hospital Friday morning in East Jerusalem
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.
President Joe Biden visited the Augusta Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem Friday morning and announced he will ask Congress to fund $100 million for healthcare services for the hospital network, which serves the Palestinian population
President Joe Biden departs the stage Friday after announcing a $100 million commitment to East Jerusalem hospitals, which service the Palestinian people
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 will also offer Palestinians a commitment from Israel to modernize wireless access.
But that will be all that he has to offer.
Biden supports a two-state solution but there is no clear path to an independent Palestinian state.
‘There are practical realities on the ground that we are very mindful of so we have not come in with a top-down plan but we have always said that if the parties are ready to talk, and we think they should, we will be there, right beside them,’ said a senior administration official.
The Palestinians want an independent state in east Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza – territories Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast war.
The international community also supports the idea but it appears to be a distant goal amid hardening attitudes on both sides.
Yair Lapid, the caretaker prime minister, supports two states but he does not have a mandate to hold peace negotiations.
And Israel’s Nov. 1 elections could bring to power a right-wing government that is opposed to Palestinian statehood.
The president will spend his last day in Israel focused on the West Bank after there has been hardly any mention of the Palestinians over the past two days.
Biden’s focus has been on the U.S.’s longtime ally Israel and he has repeatedly praised the country during his time on the ground.
Israeli officials objected to not having any of their officials with Biden on the hospital stop, which they see as happening in their territory.
But a senior administration official called it a ‘private visit’ and pointed out Jill Biden visited the same hospital when she was second lady, arguing the Bidens have long ties to it.
After the hospital stop Biden will visit with Abbas in Bethlehem and then see the Church of the Nativity.
He then heads to Saudi Arabia.
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