Joe Biden’s meeting with the Saudi prince tarnished his image as a “champion” of human rights

It took less than 24 hours in Saudi Arabia for US President Joe Biden to tarnish his image as a staunch defender of human rights that you have been trying to carve for a long time.

Every politician’s life is littered with election promises that end up breaking, and for Biden that list now includes the one he made in 2019. to treat Saudi Arabia as a “pariah” because of its human rights record.

There is also his solemn declaration, delivered on July 4, 2021, on America’s place on the international stage: “We lead by example by not showing our strength. We are part of something greater than ourselves. We are a compass for the world “.

For many it is difficult to reconcile these words with the most shocking photograph of Biden’s first tour as president in the Middle East, in which he is seen beating fists with Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salmán.

Character

US intelligence believes that the crown prince, the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia, “approved” the 2018 operation that led to the murder and dismemberment of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The photograph, taken in front of a building in the coastal city of Jeddah, on the Red Sea, it was released immediately from the Saudi official media before circulating on social media.

And it has been published in several newspapers, including by The Washington Post, where Khashoggi was a columnist.

Prior to Biden’s arrival in Jeddah, the White House took several measures to try to mitigate the repercussions of this meeting.

The American president published a column in the Post in which he explained his reasons for making the trip, saying he wanted to “strengthen a strategic partnership”insisting that “fundamental freedoms are always on the agenda when I travel abroad”.

At the start of his tour, which took him to Israel, the Palestinian territories and Saudi Arabia, his communications team said Biden would limit physical contact with the people he would meet, due to covid-19.

The controversial greeting

Some reporters have speculated that the measures – which Biden ended up not complying entirely with – were motivated less by health and more for fear of an uncomfortable photo with Prince Mohamed, which is popularly known by its initials MBS.

In the end, the punch in the head with MBS “It was worse than a handshake, it was embarrassing. “the Post’s chief executive Fred Ryan estimated in a statement.

Biden told the press spoke of the murder of Khashoggi “in the beginning” of his meeting with Prince Mohamed. I told him “clearly what I was thinking then and what I think now”, he told her.

On Saturday, Biden told leaders of nine Arab countries at a summit that “the future belongs to countries … where citizens can question and criticize leaders without fear of reprisals.”

But the fist blow with MBS she has already become the defining image of her tour.

Beyond human rights, Biden explained that his trip was aimed at “advancing US interests,” likely alluding to the need to promote greater oil production from the world’s largest oil exporter, as rising gasoline prices he is damaging his party’s prospects ahead of November’s mid-term elections.

“Autocrats must smile, Biden’s support for human rights can be sold for a drop of oil,” Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, said on Twitter Saturday.

AP Agency

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