How Biden can bring peace to the Middle East
For many observers of the Middle East conflicts, the idea of democracy and peace seems to be an oxymoron. Pundits repeatedly say that there is no relationship between peace and tranquility on the one hand and democracy and human rights on the other. US President Joe Biden can prove them wrong on the Palestine-Israel conflict — but he needs to be consistent.
When Biden meets Jordan’s King Abdullah and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett this month, he should honor the words that propelled him to the White House.
Shortly after his inauguration, Biden said the US was “better equipped to unite the world in fighting to defend democracy, because we have fought for it ourselves,” and that “force should never seek to overrule the will of the people.”
When Biden meets Bennett, he should remind his Israeli guest, a former native of north New Jersey, of the principle articulated by the famous president from New Jersey, Woodrow Wilson, of people’s inalienable right to self-determination.
So the first rule for solving the PalestineIsrael conflict should be that occupation and the continuity of a foreign military rule is unacceptable, and that the people of Palestine, like all people in the world, must be allowed to determine their own future. The world, including the Biden administration, has opted for the two-state solution.
While the idea of a free and democratic state of Palestine living alongside a safe and secure Israel seems almost utopian now, it is still possible to apply this formula so long as there is genuine political will from Washington behind it. If the US is unable to impose its word on a small idea of building trust, how can it expect to bring about peace after decades of conflict?
Biden should also have some strong words for King Abdullah. The US leader has said that democracy should not “attempt to erase the outcome of a credible election.” Jordan’s ruler should be encouraged over his latest move in this regard. King Abdullah has just set up a committee of about 90 members, reflecting all of Jordanian society, to rewrite the election and party law. But the process is handicapped without a real commitment from the king to parliamentary monarchy in the style of the UK, Sweden and others.
In order to accomplish the goal of self-determination and for negotiations to be serious, Palestinians must also be given the chance to choose their leadership through elections and decide the direction of such legitimately elected leaders. Since the canceling of elections, Palestinian rule of law has deteriorated, with a critic dying after his violent arrest by Palestinian security, and protesters against his death beaten up and imprisoned by security forces trained and paid for by US taxpayers.
In his talk at the State Department on Feb. 4, Biden said that partners around the world needed to support restoration of democracy and the rule of law. But he also warned that those refusing to accept the basic tenets of democracy should understand that the world will “impose consequences on those responsible.”
Biden has a responsibility to confront both Arab and Israeli leaders with the principles that have been outlined during the first six months of the Biden administration. Democracy and human rights, as well as respect for international law, should be the political litmus test for Washington in dealing with friend and foe alike. Only when the US means what it says will the world, including authoritarians and occupiers, take these words seriously.
Daoud Kuttab is an award-winning Palestinian journalist and former Ferris Professor of Journalism at
Princeton University.