>> the honor roll president biden, we welcome you in the city of bethlehem, the cradle of our lord jesus christ, on your official visit which -- your interest of achieving peace in the land of peace. in today's meeting, we have an opportunity, consolidating our relationship between the countries and the people, and what the u.s. can contribute to prepare the atmosphere for a political horizon for a just peace. we have the importance of really establishing the foundation on which the peace process was paste -- the piece process was based, and 482-state solution along the 1967 border. mr. president -- and for a two-state solution along the 1967 border. mr. president, it is time for the occupation to end and for our people to gain their freedom and independence, and for our young men and women who we cherish and respect their creativity to achieve a promising future without occupation. in this regard, we say that the key to peace and security in our region begins with recognizing palestine, and enabling the palestinian people to obtain their individual rights in accordance with the two-state solution and ending all the permanent status solutions, including the palestinian refugee issue. that begins with ending the israeli occupation of our land, the land of palestine, with jerusalem as its capital and the 1967 borders. mr. president, we have respected the solutions of international legitimacy and we have signed agreements. we look forward to steps from the u.s. administration to strengthen bilateral relations by reopening the u.s. consulate in east jerusalem, removing the plo from the u.s. terrorist list. we are not terrorists. also, we look forward to a plo office in washington. and we are ready to work within the framework of cooperation in order to remove any obstacles to achieving that. mr. president, we look forward to the efforts of your administration to turn the page on the israeli occupation of our lands, and the acts of racial discrimination, apartheid against our people, and to stop unilateral actions that undermine the two-state solution. we look forward to these efforts to stop the settler violence, and the respect for christian and is ill -- christian and islamic holy sites. and the expulsion and stopping the daily killings and arrests, and holding the killers of journalist shireen abu akleh, they need to be held accountable. because the continuation of all of that will lead to discrimination on one hand and a better tomorrow on the other. mr. president, if israel wants to be a complete state, it cannot continue to act as as a state above the law. and this calls for israel to end their occupation of the land of palestine, with east jerusalem as its capital, and the 1967 borders. only then, israel would be accepted to live in peace, security and good neighborhood with the people of the region-based on the initiative. the two-state solution based on the 1967 borders may be available today only, and we don't know what will happen later. therefore, i take this opportunity on the occasion of the visit of your excellency to the region to say that i extend my hand to the leaders of israel to make peace. and this has happened much before. in other accords, we have been extending our hand in peace to all israelis, for the future generations and for all the peoples of the region. mr. president, we welcome you again, and our confidence in you and your administration is very big, and we assure you of our readiness to work with you hand in hand in order to achieve a comprehensive and just peace, based on the arab niche initiative -- arab peace initiative and the signed agreements between palestinians and israel. these are agreements that we respect in a manner that guarantees peace and lasting security for all in the region. mr. president, peace begins palestine and jerusalem. from here, peace starts. we extend our hand for peace and to work with you, mr. president, to achieve it. peace be upon you. pres. biden: president abbas, thank you very much clement to the colleagues i have had the pleasure to meet as well. we have known each other for a long time and i am proud to be with you today as president of the united states. and we can count ourselves as some of the earliest supporters of the two-state solution. as i stand with you today, now as president of the united states, my commitment to the goal of the two-state solution has not changed in all these years. two states along the 1967 lines that were mutually agreed to remains the best way to achieve in equal measure of security, prosperity, freedom and democracy for the palestinians as well as israelis. the palestinian people deserve a state of their own that is independent, sovereign, viable and contiguous. two states for two peoples who have deep and ancient roots in this land, living side-by-side in peace and security, both states fully inspecting equal rights of the other citizens, both peoples enjoying an equal measure of freedom and dignity. that is what this is all about. every person has the right to be treated with dignity. it is simply basic. i know the goal of two states seems so far away, while indignities on restrictions like movement and travel and the daily worry of your children's safety are real and they are immediate. the palestinian people are hurting. you can just feel it, the grief and frustration. in the united states, we can feel it. but we never give up on the work of peace. there must be a political horizon that the palestinian people can actually see, or at least feel. we can't allow hopelessness to steal the future that so many have worked toward for so long. so, even if the ground is not right at this moment to restart negotiations, the u.s. and my administration will not give up on trying to bring the palestinians and israelis closer together. i believe that in this moment when israel is improving its relations with neighbors throughout the region, we can harness that momentum to reinvigorate the peace process between palestinian people and the israelis. i recognize how hard all these challenges must be at will be to work through. above all, there must be an end to the violence that has devastated too many families. it is hard to mention. so many palestinians and israelis have lost their lives this year, and the u.s. has had losses as well, including the killing of shireen abu akleh. she was an american, an american citizen and a proud palestinian. and she was performing very vital work in independent media and the vital work of democracy. her death is an enormous loss and the essential work of sharing with the world the story of the palestinian people. i hope her legacy will inspire more palestinian young people to carry on her work, tell the truth and tell stories that are often overlooked. the u.s. will continue to insist on a full and transparent accounting of her death and will continue to stand up for media freedom everywhere. president abbas, in the past, we met in ramallah but today, in the palestinian city of bethlehem, a place of enormous significance in my place as well . the birthplace of jesus christ, this city lives in the hearts of millions of americans -- millions of citizens and is a reminder of god's great gift to the world and renewed redemption in the hand of christ. muslims and palestinians also have a deep and intense connection to this land, particularly jerusalem. jerusalem is central to the histories of the palestinians and israelis, and to your futures. jerusalem must be a city for all people, it's only sites preserving the status while, -- the status quo. throughout this holy land, it is filled with places of significance to muslims, rations and jews. we must all be free to practice our fates in safety and dignity. we cannot wait for a peace agreement to be reached or for every issue to be resolved to deliver on the needs of the palestinian people that exist today. the best way to feed the flame of hope is to demonstrate that things can be better. president abbas, the u.s. is a partner in this work to improve the day-to-day lives of the palestinian people. that is why, when i came to office, i reversed the policy of my predecessor and resumed aid to the palestinians, more than $500 million in 2021. that support for the economic development of the palestinian people strengthens palestinian security, provides food for people to eat and response to the pandemic, including donating more than one million doses of covid-19 to the west bank and gaza. it includes $400 million in humanitarian assistance to palestinian refugees through the unrwa. and today, i'm announcing the u.s. is going to provide an additional $200 million to the unrwa so that it continue its vital work of helping palestinians, especially children. this month we decided that this morning i announced an additional one hundred million dollars in support of health care services for palestinians throughout east jerusalem. we are engaging with israel around ways to spur greater palestinian economic growth, including implementing 4g wireless networks, improving energy, freedom of movement for palestinians, people and goods. these are the kinds of issues where progress can make life better for people right away. the palestinian authority has important work to do as well. now is the time to strengthen palestinian institutions, improve governance, transparency and accountability. now is the time to unleash the incredible potential of the palestinian people through greater engagement in civic society to combat corruption and advance rights and freedoms and improve community services. all this work is critical and will help build a society that can support a successful democratic future in a future palestinian state. the united states will work with you, president abbas, at every step. thank you, again, for well -- for welcoming me and my delegation to visit with you. i hope our visit is the start of a new and reinvigorate the dialogue between the palestinian authority, the united states and including countries throughout the region, including israel. let's work together to show people in the region, especially young people, that the future can be better than today. thank you all very much, and may god protect us all. thank you. [indiscernible conversations] >> from israel,
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