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Anyone following the political strategy of Mahmoud Abbas knows that he has a one-track mind. The Palestinian president rejects any form of violent resistance to the Israeli occupation. He has put all his eggs in the diplomatic basket.
Abu Mazen, as he is called by his friends, understands well the power imbalance that exists. He knows that Palestinians cannot change that balance using violent resistance. Ever since he has been in power (and before, during the Oslo negotiations) he has always believed that Palestinians’ biggest asset is the justice of their cause, and that rallying world support can rectify the current imbalance.
That is why the aging Palestinian leader did not hesitate for a second in accepting Beijing’s invitation for a four-day official state visit to China. Abbas has been hinting for some time that while Palestinians do not discount the important role of Washington in peacemaking, there has to be another party to ensure that the blind US support for Israel doesn’t result in the continuation of the occupation and colonial settlement of the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Palestinian leadership has for decades had a good relationship with China. Beijing has been a consistent supporter of Palestinian rights and was an early recognizer of the state of Palestine. China is also deeply involved in economic ties with Israel.
Chinese foreign policy has been more assertive in the Middle East lately, its most successful effort of late being sponsorship of the Iran-Saudi rapprochement. Chinese-Saudi relations have so much improved that more than $10 billion of contracts were signed on the first day of a business conference in Riyadh this month.
A person close to the Palestinian president notes that what makes the Chinese different from Americans is that Beijing is willing to invest and put its money and other resources in play with Arabs, while the Americans and other Western countries are reluctant to share their technology or work in partnership with Arab businesspeople.
At the last Arab League summit in Riyadh in May, Chinese President Xi Jinping invited the Palestinian leader for a state visit. It began on June 13, and was aimed at showing the depth of Palestinian-Chinese relations. The visit was described as a celebration of 35 years of Palestinian-Chinese relations, although ties between the PLO and the Chinese Communist Party precede that by decades.
There has to be another party to ensure that the blind US support for Israel doesn’t result in the continuation of the occupation and colonial settlement of the occupied Palestinian territories.
Daoud Kuttab
China wants to strengthen its relations with the Arab world, which it is convinced require a serious effort to support Palestinians. The Palestinians would like to see more Chinese direct support and investment in Palestine, and would love to see another superpower challenging US domination in the Middle East.
According to the UN Comtrade database on international trade, Israel’s exports to China in 2022 were worth $4.68 billion and China’s exports to Israel were worth$16.48 billion. Over the past 21 years, Chinese exports to Palestine have increased at an annualized rate of 19.2 percent, from $6.15 million in 2000 to $248 millionin 2021. Palestinian exports to China, mainly art and sculpture have increased at an annualized rate of 7.28percent, from $76,900 in 2000 to $337,000 in 2021.
The Chinese record at the UN in support of Palestinian rights is almost perfect. But even though China is a permanent member of the Security Council, its position has hardly been converted to action. With Beijing is preparing to take a bigger political role in the region, it is possible that its presence will grow.
Nevertheless, it is highly unlikely that China can achieve any sort of breakthrough with the current Israeli government, despite tensions between Tel Aviv and Washington — largely based on Joe Biden’s deep mistrust of Benjamin Netanyahu, and the US president’s siding with his own progressive wing, which deeplyopposed to the Israeli prime minister’s controversial and divisive judicial reforms.
Palestinian officials concede that China will not use its economic might to pressure Israel. That is not howChina operates. Rather than take a negative role against Israel, Beijing will look for other means to flex its political muscle.
So, while the visit to China by the Palestinian leader was more about economics than politics, there is hope that China will be able to use its economic power to achieve some political movement. Palestinian officials also secretly hope that China’s involvement may be a wake-up call to the Americans, forcing them to take a more proactive role as the cycle of violence in the conflict escalates.
China’s power is also derived from the fact that it is increasing its presence globally, as a result of its foreign policy style of operations. Its methodology focuses on forging international relations through partnerships for development, security, and technology, striving to build a multipolar world order and thus reduce US domination.
Many countries in the Global South, Africa and Latin America, find in China, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the BRICS group a new outlet for development and a move away from Western domination. They see that China provides the ability to create a parallel track that aims to strike a balance in relations with Western countries that are controlled by the US, with its financial system and the imposition of the dollar economy and military protection.
Abbas and his delegation were received royally in China. They came home optimistic about the seriousness with which China will pursue its aims in the Middle East, including a serious effort on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The 86-year-old Palestinian leader is unable to say or do anything about the current oppressive actions of the Israeli army and settlers in Palestine. But what Abbas hopes to do is to bring political sanity and diplomacy back to center stage.
Time will tell if he will be able to match his success in bringing Iran and Saudi to agree on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. For Abbas, this might be his last chance to move the political needle to save the two-state solution — and his own political legacy.
• Daoud Kuttab is a former professor at Princeton University and the founder and former director of the Institute of Modern Media at Al-Quds University in Ramallah. Twitter: @daoudkuttab
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