Biden’s trip to the Middle East was met with a cold shoulder: protests broke out in many countries, the meeting was cancelled, and public opinion was everywhere in the United States.
As the Palestinian-Israeli conflict enters the third week, all parties pay more and more attention to the conflict. According to CCTV news reports, on October 20, local time, US President Biden, who had just visited Israel, applied to the US Congress to pass a special budget bill, increasing the budget by 105 billion US dollars for the overall assistance programs in Ukraine, Israel and strengthening America’s own security.
It is worth noting that Biden’s move was put forward after his embarrassing trip to the Middle East. On the 18th, Biden arrived in Israel to visit many countries in the Middle East. However, the Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza was attacked, and Jordan and other countries cancelled the scheduled high-level meeting. This move undoubtedly gave Biden a cold shoulder during his trip to the Middle East, and Arab countries’ dissatisfaction with Israel and the United States was also evident.
Multinational leaders cancel meeting with Biden
According to Xinhua News Agency, Jordan announced in the early morning of October 18th that it would cancel the meeting of the leaders of Palestine, Jordan, Egypt and the United States scheduled for that day in Amman. Earlier, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that Israeli warplanes attacked the Ahli Arab Hospital (also known as Baptist Hospital) in the Gaza on the evening of 17th, while the Israeli military said that Israel had intelligence that rockets from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (Jehad) mistakenly hit the Gaza Baptist Hospital. However, Jehad denied the Israeli allegations.
After the attack on the Gaza hospital, the National Security Council issued a statement saying that the US government believed that the Israelis were not responsible for the incident. During his visit to Israel, Biden also promised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the United States would continue to support Israel.
Biden’s attitude caused dissatisfaction among Arab countries. According to the Global Times, Biden’s previous itinerary included a visit to Jordan after his visit to Israel, and a meeting with the King of Jordan, the Egyptian President and the Palestinian President at a summit in Amman, Jordan, to discuss how to ease the situation between Palestine and Israel. However, the attack on the Gaza hospital and the United States’ position of favoring Israel caused public anger in Arab countries, and the three countries announced that they would cancel their meeting with Biden.
Abdel-Khalek Abdul Khaleq Abdulla, a retired professor of political science and a member of Emirati Thinkers in the United Arab Emirates, pointed out that Arab countries were shocked by Biden’s position of "protecting" Israel. "Now I feel that the United States is an accomplice in various crimes against Palestinians." He added, "Arab countries are now trying to ignore Biden and avoid meeting him."
The Jordanian government also issued a statement saying that the summit will be rescheduled after all parties agree to end the "massacre of Palestinians". "It is not good for anyone to hold a summit at this time, and it is not good for the end of the war, so we decided to cancel this meeting." Ayman Safadi, Jordan’s foreign minister, said.
Protests broke out in many countries in the Middle East.
Many countries in the Middle East have expressed strong dissatisfaction with the attack on Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi expressed strong concern and condemnation of the attack on the hospital. King Abdullah II of Jordan strongly condemned the Israeli air raid on the hospital in Gaza and warned that the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict "has entered a dangerous stage". Queen Rania Abdullah of Jordan posted on social platforms that she was "shocked" by the explosion.
"This massacre is a war crime, an insult to mankind and a stain on the world conscience." Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the attack "the latest example of Israel’s lack of the most basic human values in its actions".
In addition to official statements, protests and rallies broke out in many countries. People from Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Syria and other countries took to the streets to launch protests against the United States and Israel. The embassies of the United States and Israel in Lebanon, Jordan and other countries were also surrounded by the assembly crowd. Protesters used various slogans to express their anger against Israel, and many diplomatic institutions in the United States and Israel were even set on fire. Anger even spread to North Africa, and protests against the United States and Israel took place in Tunisia, Morocco and Libya, with thousands of people participating.
"Against occupation! Say no to the United States! " Tens of thousands of Iraqi protesters gathered in Tahrir Square in Baghdad, waving the flags of Palestine and Iraq, and a huge Israeli flag was placed on the ground for protesters to trample on.
The same thing happened in Iran. Thousands of Iranians gathered in the capital Tehran, holding the flags of Palestine and Hezbollah and shouting slogans to show their support for Palestine. In Jordan, thousands of people gathered around the Israeli Embassy in Amman. People took to the streets to condemn Israel’s continuous bombing of the Gaza Strip, and protesters tried to attack the Israeli Embassy. Jordanian police had to use tear gas to disperse them.
Us "safe passage" proposal attracts dissatisfaction from Jordan and Egypt
In addition to the attack on Gaza Hospital, the proposal of "safe passage" in the United States is also one of the reasons why countries in the Middle East have lost enthusiasm for Biden’s visit. Egypt and Israel border on Palestine, and both countries strongly oppose the U.S. plan to establish a safe passage for Palestinians fleeing from Gaza on the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt bordering Gaza.
Since the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on October 7, the United States has been trying to discuss with Jordan and Egypt about the establishment of a "safe corridor", but the implementation of the plan has been frequently blocked because of the interests of all parties involved. Biden once said that during his visit to Israel, he talked with Egyptian leaders to discuss the opening of Rafah port for material transportation and personnel evacuation, but in the end, Egypt only agreed to the proposal of restarting the port to transport humanitarian relief supplies.
The proposal of the United States to establish a "safe passage" has aroused anger in the Arab world. According to analysis, it is very likely that Israel will reduce the Palestinian population in the Gaza by this way, so as to reoccupy the Gaza Strip and make the Palestinians homeless again, making it difficult for them to return home. King Abdullah II of Jordan said that neither Jordan nor Egypt would accept refugees from Gaza, and hinted that any proposal to let these two countries accept refugees from Gaza was a "common trick".
Egyptian newspapers commented that the idea of the United States "driving out" Palestinians from their homes this time would be a repeat of "Disaster Day in 1948", when about 700,000 Palestinians fled or were driven out of their homes in the Middle East war, accounting for about half of the total Palestinian population at that time. Egyptian President Seyce said that the presence of Gaza in the Sinai Peninsula may also make the peninsula a base for anti-Israeli militants, which will lead to Israel’s attack on Egypt and expand the scope of the war.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Choucairy said that just as the United States and Europe are sensitive to the influx of refugees, so is Egypt.
Protests and demonstrations in Washington, new york and Chicago.
In addition to the opposition and protests in the Arab world, many protests and demonstrations broke out in the United States because Biden’s government supported Israel’s position.
According to CCTV news reports, since the outbreak of the new round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict, many Americans believe that the United States’ provision of military weapons to Israel is equivalent to giving Israel "absolute freedom" to do "anything" to Palestine.
On October 18th, local time, many pro-Palestinian people staged protests in the area near the Capitol in Washington, D.C., demanding that the U.S. government promote a ceasefire between Palestine and Israel, and more than 350 people entered the House of Representatives office building near the U.S. Capitol for demonstrations. According to the Global Times, residents of new york, Chicago, Los Angeles and other American cities also held demonstrations on October 21st.
At the same time, there are more and more voices in Biden’s government that openly oppose Biden’s continued military assistance to Israel. Josh Paul, a the State Council official in charge of the Congressional Liaison Office dealing with foreign arms sales, resigned on October 18th because of the US policy of supplying weapons to Israel.
"I can’t support a series of major policy decisions, including throwing more weapons at one side of the conflict. I think this is short-sighted, destructive and unfair, and contradicts the values we openly support." Paul wrote in a statement.
The Senate controlled by the Democratic Party plans to act quickly on Biden’s proposal to provide assistance to Israel and Ukraine, hoping to put pressure on the House of Representatives controlled by the Republican Party. However, there are also differences within the Senate on how to advance. Eight Republicans, led by Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas, said they did not want to combine aid to Ukraine and Israel into the same legislation.
"These are two independent and unrelated conflicts. It is wrong to use aid support to Israel to try to provide additional aid to Ukraine." The above eight Republicans wrote in a letter.