Loading ...Can Biden Brag about Telling the Truth?
By: Ghassan Rubeiz / Arab America Contributing Writer
Rationalizing his weak performance during last week’s presidential debate, President Joe Biden acknowledged his age, but bragged about his honesty: “I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to. But I know what I do know. I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong”. But beating his opponent in matters of honesty is no great feat: Trump is a notorious, habitual liar.
Biden’s claim of his unwavering respect for the truth did catch my attention as an Arab American. When it comes to Palestine, Biden is often not telling the truth. He says he supports Palestinian statehood, yet encourages Israel to maintain and expand its occupation. He says he wants an end to the war in Gaza but continues to send arms to Israel. He publicly blames Hamas for the continuation of the war, while knowing well that Netanyahu is equally to blame.
If Biden cared about Palestine, he would have raised the issue in the debate. In fact, the debate moderators hardly mentioned the war in Gaza, ignoring its current significance. After Trump ignored the question of whether there should be a Palestinian state, the issue was regrettably never revisited.
Biden could take a lesson on truth-telling from the authors of a New York Times op-ed published last Wednesday. The six prominent Israeli authors, who include former Prime Minister Ehud Barak and former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo, made the case that Netanyahu, in addressing a joint session of Congress on July 24, will not represent Israel, and called Netanyahu’s conduct “ scandalous and destructive.”
Over the weekend, Ehud Olmert, another former Israeli prime minister, also spoke his mind to a global audience, appealing to Israel’s leaders to stop the war in Gaza and Lebanon and negotiate peace with the Palestinians. On CNN’s GPS program, Rabbi Sharon Brous followed Olmert with a refreshing address on the significance of compassion for all people. Brous, a popular author and progressive theologian, reminded her people that there is no contradiction in being simultaneously pro-Israel and pro-Palestine. In a brief but moving sermon, she explained that her parents’ generation was the survivors of the Holocaust: they saw Israel as a home for the Jews, a small state worthy of support. But in her telling, Israel evolved, becoming a powerful state.
Her own generation saw a secure Israel seeking peace during the nineties. However, she believes her children’s generation is witnessing a different Israel: a state pursuing a colonial project. The courageous rabbi boldly asserted that today’s Israel should respond to Palestinian aspirations. She is one of many distinguished Jewish thinkers who have taken the risk of being labeled “self-hating Jews”. But she is personally secure enough to absorb unfair criticism.
Returning to Biden, the question is not knowing how to tell the truth. Rather, it is about telling the whole truth, and, if need be, doing something about it. The challenge is greater when speaking difficult truths to one’s people, as the brave Israelis I mentioned have shown. President Biden has missed his chance to be straightforward on Palestine and has already paid dearly for it in political terms. His bumbling performance last week certainly hampers his credibility as a presidential candidate. So does his lack of courage to tell the truth and choose what is right.
Ghassan Rubeiz is the former Middle East Secretary of the World Council of Churches. Earlier he taught psychology and social work in his country of birth, Lebanon, and later in the United States, where he currently lives. For the past twenty years, he has contributed to political commentary and delivered occasional public talks on subjects related to peace, justice, and interfaith. You can reach him at rubeizg@gmail.com
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Arab America. The reproduction of this article is permissible with proper credit to Arab America and the author.
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