From the Liveblog of
Sunday, June 16, 2024
In Eid al-Adha statement, Biden reiterates US’s commitment to eventual two-state solution
In a statement marking the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, US President Joe Biden acknowledges the difficult circumstances under which people in Gaza are celebrating this year.
“This year, Eid al-Adha comes at a difficult time for many Muslims around the world. In Gaza, innocent civilians are suffering the horrors of the war between Hamas and Israel,” Biden says. “Too many innocent people have been killed, including thousands of children. Families have fled their homes and seen their communities destroyed. Their pain is immense.”
The US is doing “everything we can to bring an end to the war,” Biden says, adding that this includes increasing humanitarian aid deliveries into the Gaza Strip, working toward an eventual two-state solution and freeing the hostages held by Hamas since the October 7 massacre in southern Israel.
“I strongly believe that the three-phase ceasefire proposal Israel has made to Hamas and that the UN Security Council has endorsed is the best way to end the violence in Gaza and ultimately end the war,” he says.
Biden also addresses Muslim communities impacted by the conflict in Sudan, as well as the Rohingya in Burma and the Uyghurs in China, stressing that “they, like all people, deserve to live free from violence and fear.”
Looking closer to home, Biden reiterates his administration’s commitment to “addressing the scourge of Islamophobia in the United States,” and says that “hate has no place in America, whether it is targeted at American Muslims, Arab Americans including Palestinians, or anyone else.”
“In the spirit of Eid al-Adha, let us all renew our commitment to values that unite us – compassion, empathy, and mutual respect – which are both American and Islamic,” he adds.
