Ramallah - "Jerusalem" dot com - Muhammad Abu Khdeir - Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Hussein Al-Sheikh , said that US President Joe Biden's visit to Bethlehem in the middle of this month is a test of the seriousness of the US administration, warning of its failure to find a political horizon and forcing Israel to abide by international legitimacy.

In an exclusive interview with Al-Quds.com, on the sidelines of his meeting with a group of Palestinian journalists in his office yesterday, Al-Sheikh revealed 6 main issues that will be addressed in the meeting between President Mahmoud Abbas and US President Joe Biden in Bethlehem, centering on the implementation of the mandates. The United States stands for the promises it made, which are represented by a two-state solution, settlements, stopping the displacement of Jerusalemites, preserving the status quo in Al-Aqsa Mosque and the holy places in Jerusalem, Islamic and Christian, stopping all unilateral measures taken by Israel and opening the US embassy in East Jerusalem.

Al-Sheikh said: We view the meeting with President Biden as a pivotal meeting, and we hope that there will be serious outcomes from the meeting, foremost of which is launching a political horizon and forcing Israel to respect and implement the decisions of international legitimacy, stressing the need for Israel and the United States to adhere to the two-state solution in accordance with international legitimacy.
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He warned that there would be no serious outputs from President Biden's meeting that would give hope to the Palestinian people for a political horizon that would achieve the requirements they want and aspire to for our people who are under occupation, settlements and Israeli violations.

And the sheikh’s chapter on the political horizon: “We want to implement the decisions of the legitimacy that is indispensable and has no alternative, and the international contradiction has emerged in the Russian-Ukrainian war. How does this international legitimacy implement its decisions and why the double standards? We have more than 100 Security Council resolutions, none of which Israel has implemented."

He added, "What is required is that Israel be held accountable and that there be an international will that compels and pushes Israel to abide by the legitimacy decisions related to the Palestinian cause."

Sheikh described the US administration's statement regarding the assassination of Sherine Abu Aqleh as disappointing.

He added, "The Israeli occupation government bears responsibility for the assassination of Sherine Abu Aqelah, and we will complete our procedures before international courts."

Regarding American financial support, the Secretary of the Executive Committee of the PLO confirmed that it has been suspended for years under justifications and pretexts for which we do not know the reason, and he said: “We hope that the US President’s visit to Bethlehem will be a prelude to the return of things to normal and the waters to their normal course, and that President Biden will take clear decisions.” The return of financial support to the authority.

He added: "In the event that President Biden's visit does not fulfill its pledges, foremost of which is the political horizon and the visit fails, we will all go to an uncomfortable square, the loss of hope among the Palestinians and the continuation of this Israeli policy, escalation, abuse, settlements and invasions can no longer be tolerated, and therefore we call on the international community to take control of its responsibilities." .

Regarding going to the United Nations and withdrawing recognition of Israel, Al-Sheikh said: “There are a set of measures approved by the leadership, and they were postponed at the request of our friends and the American administration until after President Joe Biden’s visit, and I hope that we will not have to go to that .. We hope that there will be a serious breakthrough.” But if the visit comes out with nostalgia, I think there is no longer any way out and no choice for the Palestinian leadership."

In response to a question about presenting a group of American economic projects, Sheikh said: "Our issue is political and we want a political horizon. We do not talk about economic projects and economic peace."

He added: "The Palestinian people want freedom and independence, an end to this settlement, invasions and violations, and an end to the occupation, not cosmetic solutions that reproduce the occupation and perpetuate it on the ground and on the chests of our people."

Al-Sheikh stressed that the Palestinian issue cannot be ignored and its solution postponed, and he said: "They have repeatedly tried to marginalize the Palestinian issue, but it was and still is strongly present at all levels."

Al-Sheikh considered that restoring the political horizon is a Palestinian priority, pointing out that the US President has pledged to reopen the US Consulate in Jerusalem, and we are waiting for him to fulfill his promise.

The previous US administration headed by Donald Trump worked to close the US consulate in Jerusalem and close the office of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Washington, while the current US administration pledged to reopen the consulate in Jerusalem without specifying any date for that, but Israel rejected the matter, and proposed opening a consulate in Ramallah. Instead, the US administration proposed appointing an American official to handle the Palestinian file, but the Palestinian leadership insisted and insists on opening the consulate.

Sheikh said: Among the Palestinian demands to be submitted to Biden, the removal of the PLO from the list of "terrorist" organizations, in addition to reopening the office of its diplomatic mission in Washington.

When asked about the position of the Palestinian leadership regarding Yair Lapid assuming the presidency of the Israeli government, Al-Sheikh said: "We will judge him by his actions. Will he continue the Bennett government's settlement policy, demolishing homes, invading cities, arrests and violations? Will Lapid stop that? We will see in the next four days and months."

Al-Sheikh drew attention to the tendency of Israeli society towards the right and settlement, and said that there is no partner in Israel now, and I do not expect it to be in the next few years.

During the meeting, Sheikh reviewed many internal Palestinian issues such as division, dialogue and reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas movements, and expressed his belief in the importance of holding Palestinian elections, especially legislative ones, in East Jerusalem.

The sheikh also dealt with Palestinian-Arab relations and their weaknesses and strengths, stressing the Palestinian leadership's keenness on good relations with all Arab countries and refusing to interfere in their internal affairs, criticizing normalization.

He confirmed to Al-Quds.com that the Fatah movement is working to prepare for the eighth conference before the end of this year to bring together the Fatah ranks, which he described as broad.

He also described the Secretary of the Executive Committee of the PLO in the form of his recent visit to Moscow at the invitation of the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, stressing the importance of that visit and the meeting, which he described as strategic and extremely important.

Al-Sheikh dealt with the overall Palestinian relations, meetings with the leaders of the occupation, and issues with a political dimension, indicating that today there is no partner on the Israeli side ready to talk about the implementation of the agreements or the two-state solution.

He affirmed that he is with the Palestinian discourse that is far from slogans and grandiloquent rhetoric, and said: The next stage is difficult, and requires solid and stable stances, and to achieve the goals of our people by ending the occupation and establishing the state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital, in the shortest way and the lowest costs.