West Bank Ramallah
CNN
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Abu A’asem brews one specialty Arabic coffee after another despite the pouring rain. His corner in the heart of Ramallah His stand is always busy no matter the weather, but his future as a Palestinian is as bleak as the skies above.
“I’m 40 and I keep seeing the same things. Many leaders have come and gone, but the situation remains the same,” he says.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is convinced Palestinians are not a priority for Washington, despite meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the hills just a few kilometers away on Tuesday. .
“His visit is for Israel only,” he says. “It’s a neighborhood, so it’s good manners to pass by.”
Blinken’s visit came in a month when the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli security forces was at an eight-year high. Ten of those deaths came as a result of an Israeli army raid in Jenin on Thursday. Tensions escalated quickly, and the next day a Palestinian man shot dead his seven Israelis outside the synagogue.
Friday night’s shootings occurred at the Israeli settlement of Neve Yaakov, which Israel considers to be near Jerusalem, but is considered by much of the international community to be squattered.
Blinken sought to bring down temperatures even before arriving in Israel, while bolstering the US’ ironclad commitment to Israel’s security. He also said the United States, especially the Biden administration, remains committed to a two-state solution.
Blinken, speaking with Abbas in Ramallah, first needs to “try to de-escalate, stop violence, de-escalate tensions and create a more positive action platform to move forward.” said.
But that alone “isn’t enough,” he said. “It is important not only to reduce violence, but also to continue our efforts to ensure that ultimately Israelis and Palestinians enjoy the same rights, the same opportunities. We believe that the horizon of hope is shrinking, not expanding, and that, too, needs to change.”
But A’asem doesn’t trust America’s top diplomats.
“He may offer something here and there, but it’s all empty promises,” he says. “From the first day of the occupation it has been the same promises and the same ones, those are failures and empty promises.”
Down the road, the smell of cashews and almonds being roasted at Rifaat Yusuf cuts through the chilly winter air. He’s not optimistic either.
“Things are going from bad to worse,” Yusuf, 44, said of US policy toward Palestinians.
“[Blinken’s]visit is not welcome to us Palestinians,” he added, accusing the secretary of state of enabling the Israeli occupation, which he accused of Israeli violence in the occupied West Bank. “As Palestinians, we oppose the visit of any person who supports Israel in this way.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benazimin Netanyahu pledged this week that Israel would “strengthen” its settlements in response to the shootings in Jerusalem, but Prime Minister Brinken disagreed on Tuesday.
But Netanyahu, speaking to CNN’s Jake Tapper on Tuesday, said people could be “stuck” in peace talks with the Palestinians, and he had chosen a different approach.
“I believe that once the Arab-Israeli conflict is practically over, we will return to the Palestinian side and make a workable peace with the Palestinian side,” he said.
Asked what concessions Israel would make to Palestinian territories, Netanyahu replied: But there is no power that can threaten (us), and this means that Israel should assume the overriding security responsibility. ”
Netanyahu on peace process: ‘We must live together’
Disillusionment, despair and abandonment are hard to swallow for most people in Ramallah, but they are especially painful for young Palestinians who see no future for their people or themselves.
“We are very upset,” says 18-year-old Nihad Omar. “We see someone become a martyr or a prisoner every day. It’s the same cycle and the numbers keep growing. They’re not going down.”
Analysts from both sides believe that the Israeli government’s promise to respond to violence with an “iron fist”, combined with the desperation felt by many in Gaza and the West Bank, is turning the region into a gunpowder keg, It states that the fuse keeps getting short. Echoing that sentiment, Omar says there is not much pressure Palestinians can and are willing to bear.
“Occupation surrounds us from all sides, making it difficult for the Palestinian people to breathe,” he says.
Hanan Ashwari, a Palestinian rights advocate and former member of the Executive Committee of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, said: The grievances against the US and Israel felt by those CNN spoke to are legitimate and very widespread in Ramallah and the West Bank.
“[Blinken]wants to integrate Israel into the region, which means sidelining the Palestinians, rewarding Israel and normalizing the occupation,” says Ashwari. “Then they say they are in favor of a bilateral solution, pat themselves on the shoulder and go home.
“It’s very ironic because they stand aside and let Israel destroy the Palestinian state, steal land, kill people, destroy homes, terrorize Palestinians through settlers and armies. It allowed us to destroy the two-state solution,” she adds. .
Ashwari says disenchantment is not only in the United States, but also in the current Palestinian leadership.
“Our leadership is more than just rhetoric, it has failed in many ways to stay in power and reach people, even with our own policies,” she explains. “I think the time has come for new leaders to be elected by those who hold elections and enjoy the legitimacy of elections.”
Most people we spoke to in Ramallah agree.
“Palestinian leaders try to appease the Palestinian people and bring good to them, but they are handicapped and unable to do so,” says Omar.
“People around [current Palestinian Authority President] Unfortunately, Mahmoud Abbas is more supportive of the Israelis than he is,” Yusuf said. “I wish someone had the spirit that Yasser Arafat had.”
However, some praise Abbas and his leadership.
“Palestinian leaders are trying to bring solutions to the Palestinian people, but they face many challenges,” says coffee stand owner Asem.
These challenges to a more prosperous Palestinian future, including the establishment of a Palestinian state, are obstacles deliberately put in place by Israeli politicians, they say. For Ashwari, Israel’s policy toward the Palestinian people, now enacted by the most right-wing government in the country’s history, is slowly but surely destroying the feasibility of a two-state solution.
“Israel is expanding its settlements and stealing more land so that there is no viable sovereign Palestinian state,” says Ashwari. “This is unacceptable. The more settlements we make, the less Palestinian land we have.”
On the streets of Ramallah, Palestinians are keenly aware of that reality.
“We want a two-state solution, but what we see on the horizon and what we see on the ground, nothing indicates a two-state solution. [is viable]’ says Yusuf. “The Palestinians have no power, no opinion, no choice. A two-state solution is just a word. ”
“There is no two-state solution,” agrees Omar. “Never an Israeli occupier.”
Brewing another pot of coffee, the pensive A’asem realizes that the dream of a Palestinian nation doesn’t seem any closer.
“Maybe two states (solutions) have become an unrealistic dream,” he admits.
But that sense of defeat is just a fleeting mistake before a violent comeback.
“We Palestinians are an emotional nation, we are generous, and we are generous when Jews come as guests,” he says. “But peace cannot come if there are occupiers.”
