Why Biden's Palestinian Policies Will Not Bring Peace

by Khaled Abu Toameh • November 2, 2021 at 5:00 am

The Biden administration is apparently hoping that engaging Mahmoud Abbas would undermine Hamas and other Palestinian extremists and embolden "moderate" Palestinians who are prepared to make peace with Israel and renounce violence.
The results of the polls, however, show that the Palestinian public is moving in precisely the opposite direction – towards more extremism and disillusionment with the PA leadership.
Referring to the peace process with Israel, 68% of the Palestinians said that they oppose a return to negotiations with Israel led by the US under the Biden administration.
The millions of dollars that the Biden administration is pouring on the Palestinians will not make them more moderate and encourage them to abandon violence and terrorism. There is only one way to deradicalize the Palestinians: halt the ongoing campaign to delegitimize Israel and demonize Jews.
It is the catastrophic failure to hold Abbas and the PA to account for their incitement against Israel and for their corruption that is emboldening Hamas and others who seek to destroy Israel.

The Biden administration is apparently hoping that engaging Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (pictured) would undermine Hamas and other Palestinian extremists and embolden "moderate" Palestinians who are prepared to make peace with Israel and renounce violence. The results of the polls, however, show that the Palestinian public is moving in precisely the opposite direction – towards more extremism and disillusionment with the PA leadership. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

The Biden administration's policy of engaging with and strengthening the Palestinian Authority (PA) has suffered a setback: most Palestinians continue to express dissatisfaction with the performance of PA President Mahmoud Abbas and demand his resignation.

The Biden administration's hope of reviving the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians has also suffered another blow: a majority of Palestinians remain opposed to returning to negotiations with Israel under the leadership of the US. In addition, half the Palestinian public favor a return to an armed struggle Israel.

Moreover, many Palestinians are not convinced that they will benefit from the Biden administration's decision to resume financial aid to the PA because of the corruption of the Palestinian leadership.

The Palestinian attitudes were reflected in the findings of public opinion polls published over the past two months by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research.

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China and the Crisis Presidency of Joe Biden

by Pete Hoekstra • November 2, 2021 at 4:00 am

How does a president who is struggling on so many fronts lead a nation against China, its biggest geostrategic competitor? China's military buildup, the ongoing genocide against the Uyghurs, America and the West's over-reliance on China in the supply chain, Chinese aggression against Taiwan and in the South China Sea, and China's aggression against India along the common land border are all pressing issues that are only getting worse.
The Chinese communists have made clear in word and deed, however, including their Belt and Road Initiative and Made in China policies, that they have every intention of knocking-off America as global leader and supplanting the West in global standing.
[I]n 2008 Russia invaded the Republic of Georgia. European Union leaders offered a pitifully limited response and Russia faced very few negative reactions from either the EU or the U.S. But there were consequences. Many believe this painfully mild answer was an indicator to Russia that it could employ a more militaristic approach in areas of previous Russian influence. Six years after its invasion of Georgia, Russia invaded Ukraine, annexing Crimea and occupying parts of the Donbas region. The lesson seems clear and quite literal -- give a tyrannical country an inch and it will take as many other countries as it can.
[F]or global stability and the standing of the United Sates, it is time for the president to draw a bright red line signaling to the Chinese communists the limits of what they can do and where they can go.

How does a president who is struggling on so many fronts lead a nation against China, its biggest geostrategic competitor? China's military buildup, the ongoing genocide against the Uyghurs, America and the West's over-reliance on China in the supply chain, Chinese aggression against Taiwan and in the South China Sea, and China's aggression against India along the common land border are all pressing issues that are only getting worse. Pictured: Chinese President Xi Jinping with then US Vice President Joe Biden in Beijing, China on December 4, 2013. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

Less than a year in and Joe Biden's presidency is beset by crises. Domestically, his increasingly unpopular agenda has been stalled by his own political party in Congress. On the international front, the Afghanistan withdrawal debacle continues to reverberate along with Europe's growing frustration in dealing with the administration. Even on matters where we can agree, such as the submarine deal and our alliance with the Australia and the United Kingdom to counter China, the announcement was so badly handled it became just another friction point in U.S.-European relations. Then there is China itself. From the origins of COVID to its recent hypersonic missile test -- an event the Pentagon's top general Mark Milley concedes was a near "Sputnik moment" -- and China's ability to crush all US satellites as "debris," the challenges between the U.S. and China only continue to grow.

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