US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken affirmed, in his meeting with representatives of the Palestinian-American community, on Friday, the commitment of the administration of US President Joe Biden to the two-state solution, and the Palestinians´ right to a decent life and justice in their independent state.
According to an official source, the American minister spoke during the meeting about the prolonged suffering of the Palestinians, and that he “understands their pain and feelings as they see the suffering, due to violence, which has claimed many lives, especially children and innocents,” and that he sensed this in his last visit on 25 and 26 Last May to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, and then Cairo and Amman.
Blinken addressed issues of sustainable calm and reconstruction, and that conditions and grounds must be created to ensure that what is reconstructed in Gaza will not be destroyed.
The minister also stressed that the administration sees the reopening of the US consulate in East Jerusalem as an important step that will be accomplished in the near future, although not more clearly with regard to reopening the office of the Palestine Liberation Organization mission in the American capital, which was closed on October 10, 2018, noting that The administration is determined to restore relations with the Palestinians through all possible channels, including reopening offices.
It is noteworthy that the US Congress had enacted laws (1987) that classified the Palestine Liberation Organization as a terrorist organization, which makes the reopening of the Palestinian office in Washington subject to the decisions and standards of the US Congress.
Regarding US support for the Palestinians, the minister assured the American-Palestinian delegation that the Biden administration had allocated $100 million to support the Palestinians, in addition to other packages of support in various quantities and to serve other support projects.
It was also remarkable that Minister Blinken met with representatives of the American Jewish community after his meeting with representatives of the Palestinian American community, in an unusual gesture in the behavior of previous administrations that used to meet with American Jewish representatives at the minister level, followed by meetings at the level of “assistants” with the communities Palestinian and Arab American.
Blinken had confirmed "the United States´ permanent commitment to Israel´s security," when receiving Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz, who is currently visiting Washington to discuss several files ranging from the Iranian nuclear file to the repercussions of the recent military escalation.
In statements prior to the meeting, Blinken indicated, according to a statement by the US State Department, that his meeting with Gantz will address “some of Israel’s security needs,” in addition to the work required to move forward with humanitarian aid and reconstruction in the Gaza Strip.
