US cannot continue to rule out crimes in Jerusalem in Israel Jerusalem News

It has become almost a cliché. A new U.S. administration has raised and lowered expectations that it will step up efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by listing new foreign priorities, such as Afghanistan, Russia and China. The Biden administration has similarly stated that it has no serious interest in the Palestinian issue.

Earlier this month, violent protests and clashes in East Jerusalem should have forced U.S. leadership out of its apathy.

On the first day of Ramadan, Israeli authorities decided to violate a cardinal commitment to respect the right to worship by forcing access to the four minarets of the Al Aqsa mosque to silence the evening prayer call, along with a ceremony for the Israelis. Remembrance Day was celebrated in the West Wall of Jerusalem and was attended by high-ranking officials from Israel.

Israeli authorities then decided to deny Al Aqsara entry to a large number of Muslim worshipers who wanted to break their fast in the mosque courtyard with their siblings. Palestinians were forbidden to gather around the Damascus Gate, as they traditionally do during Ramadan.

According to officials, these measures taken to protect Palestinians from COVID-19 did not fly. Most of the population of East Jerusalem is already vaccinated, as they, unlike Palestinians living in Gaza and the West Bank, were given access to vaccines by Israeli authorities. A limited number of Palestinians from the rest of the occupied territories have been allowed to visit the occupied city and all have had to present a certificate of incorporation.

To top it all off, Israeli police allowed hundreds of young people from the far-right Lehava organization, despite being racist and extremist, to go to the old city of Jerusalem, shouting “death to the Arabs” and “Arabs are coming out”. When the Palestinians confronted them, Israeli police used stun grenades, tear gas and physical violence to disperse the Palestinian crowd.

All over the world, violence prevention tactics have a large and reduced police presence, and political or religious leaders try to use their position to prevent members of their community from engaging in physical strife and to disperse peacefully.

The problem is that Israel has long lost this tool of communication with the Palestinians in East Jerusalem. Since the Oslo Accords were signed in the White House in Washington in 1993, the Israelis have worked aggressively to deny Palestinians in Jerusalem a link to their national leadership.

Israeli authorities used to suspend events in the city sponsored by the Ramallah-based Palestinian government, even though the event was a children’s puppet show. Local Palestinian leaders are often taken away and imprisoned or warned of prison sentences if they continue to communicate with their Palestinian leaders.

And Israel’s violations of Palestinian rights do not stop here in Jerusalem. Israel has refused to accept the various clauses of the five-year interim agreement in the Oslo Accords on Jerusalem. He has avoided negotiating the status quo of the occupied city and has continued with a security and demographic campaign to uproot the Palestinian population. He has also maintained diplomatic efforts to recognize Jerusalem as its capital.

Even now the Palestinians in Jerusalem intend to avoid voting in the Palestinian legislative elections on May 22. This is despite the fact that the interim agreement guarantees the right of Palestinians in Jerusalem to vote in the Palestinian elections.

The Israeli government, which constantly claims to be the “only democracy in the Middle East” and is respecting the right of believers of all religions to practice their faith in Jerusalem and the Holy Land, is failing on both counts.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration has only given a weak expression of “concern” about the march that caused tensions in Jerusalem’s extremist Jews. He is also stating that he will not oppose the postponement of the Palestinian elections, as he may be forced by the Palestinian Authority because Israel has not obtained permission to vote in East Jerusalem.

At home, the Biden administration has come out against the far-right and voter oppression. It makes no sense for Israel and its foreign policy towards Palestine not to reflect the same principles.

If President Joe Biden really intends to undo the damage done by his predecessor, Donald Trump, at home and abroad, then he will have to change his tactics towards Israel. To turn a blind eye to the crimes committed by Israelis against the Palestinians and to choose to constantly calm them down will not lead to a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Biden must put pressure to put Israel in Jerusalem to allow Palestinian elections to take place so that a new Palestinian leadership can be elected and then the two parties can begin to return to the negotiating table.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the attitude of the Al Jazeera editorial.