i'll turn in almost as many years. one made headlines 3 years ago during the height of the pro democracy demonstrations when she vanished for 14 months. she was arrested by chinese police after crossing the border a day earlier. another elderly protest, her who also once attracted attention, was sentenced to 9 months for attempted sedition. couso you is 75 and has stage 4 colon cancer. there were now concerns he may die in prison since 2019 more than 2800 people have been prosecuted for protest related offenses. the security law imposed by beijing in 2020 has effectively criminalized descent here. adrian brown, al jazeera hong kong. ah, this is al jazeera and these are the top stories. a nationwide curfew is now in

effect and sri lanka, after demonstrations. local media, as a man has died from tear gas inhalation. during protests, thousands gathered at the offices of prime minister ran have become a sing, a demanding, his resignation is taken over his acting president after go to buy a raja packs of fled. the country joe biden has arrived and israel on his 1st visit to the middle east as you, as president, a promise to advance. israel's regional integration by the will also meet palestinian leaders in the occupied westbank greater stability greater connection which critical is critical. why my ad, for all the people of the region, which is why will be so we'll discuss my continued support even though i know it's not in the near term interstate solution. that remains, in my view, the best way to insure the future equal measure of freedom, prosperity, democracy for israelis. and palestinians like al jazeera has learned that there has

been a breakthrough. it talks in turkey, aim to securing the export of ukrainian grain, russia, ukraine, turkey of the un of also been negotiating the return of russian grain of fertilizer to global markets. a deal could go a long way to addressing the global food crisis. members of parliament for the british, conservative party of just finished their 1st vote on who will replace boyce johnson, jeremy hunt, and the deems, aha, we were eliminated, or re, she's still not competitive, wouldn't old an advantage us inflation for june? it's a 40 year high of 9 point one percent, which is higher than economist predicted. prices of food and housing are increasing much faster than average us incomes we, black and hispanic americans, hottest it airlines have been forced to cancel thousands of flights across europe. you to strike action and staff shortages, the decision to limit the number of departing passenger this to a 100000 a day at london's busiest apple he throw it set to make matters even worse. a

veteran, hong kong protested known as grandma wong has pleaded guilty to charges of unlawful assembly. alexander wong was known for waving a british flag while taking part the 2019 protest movement. those the headlines. the news continues here on out as they are off the inside story. don't go away. ah and bulking on a new relationship. joe biden promises to reset ties with the middle east on his 1st tour as u. s. president. so what can he achieve? and will he be held back by political pressures at home? this is inside story. ah

hello there and welcome to the program, i'm the stars the attain. now the u. s. is promising a new era of engagement with the middle east. joe biden is making his 1st trip to the region since becoming president, and he'll have many issues to deal with over the next 4 days. biden's 1st stop is israel, where he's musing, acting prime minister ya in appeared and former lead at benjamin netanyahu. he'll then head to the occupied west bank to meet palestinian authority. president mackwood abbas biden is expected to face questions about the killing of al jazeera correspondence. sharina broccoli, who was a palestinian american, the u. s. state department found that israeli gun fi likely killed the journalist, but couldn't definitively conclude the bullets origin. a group of democratic sentences is written an open letter saying the investigation doesn't live up to the administration's cause for an independent, incredible inquiry. greater bruce,

greater stability, greater connection is critical, critical for my are for all the people of the region, which is why we'll be we'll discuss my continued support. even though i know it's not in the near term to state solution. that remains in my view, the best way to ensure the future of equal measure of freedom, prosperity, democracy for israelis and palestinians is life. stephanie deca has known the last time president joe biden was here in the region was in 2010 in his capacity as vice president trying to revive talks, which in these ratings and the palestinians. but just hours after landing here, these really government announced the construction of a 1600 new settler units here in the remote shlomo. according to reports had left joe biden furious and publicly stated, this was very much against what was needed to rebuild trust between the 2 sides.

well, now he returns as president, no much slomo has turned into a massive illegal settlement. no settlements have continued to expand both here in the occupied west bank and an occupied east. jerusalem is cited as one of the main obstacles to peace by the palestinians. and under the previous tromp administration, this was never criticized. but under biden, washington is taking a stronger stands. president biden, however, comes here at a time. this really political turmoil. he'll be meeting with the intern prime minister yellow p to could no longer be prime minister following november's elections. and it'll also be meeting with opposition leader benjamin netanyahu. a man he's known for a very long time. but you clearly look to go by den. we'll also be meeting with the palestinian present mahmoud abbas here in bethlehem, where it's impossible to miss the whole, really the symbol of israel's longstanding occupation and effort to restrict the freedom of movement of the palestinian people. but give ministration has made it

clear that this trip is more about integrating israel into the region rather than reviving long stalled peace talks. well, afterwards, joe biden will take an unprecedented direct flight from israel to saudi arabia to attend to regional summit that we were running, sags make them, pay the pros and make them inside the pariah that they are rules. that's what he said about the kingdom during the 2020 presidential campaign while talking about the murder of saudi journalist, michael shockey. but biden is under pressure in the us to deal with high oil prices . he and saudi crown prince, mom had been some man will attend that same summit. and jetta, but the 2 are not expected to hold a bilateral meeting of the items on the agenda and viewed the iran nuclear deal. biden says he will continue pressuring terran to return to the 2015 agreement. former president, donald trump, you'll recall, withdrew the u. s. from that accord in 2018 in iraq and syria biden has approved

the use of military force to prevent the resurgence of group such as isolate and to respond to rocket attacks on us targets. and washington is also pushing for negotiations to end the war in yemen. ah, well let's bring in our guests in arlington, virginia. we have colored l gandy. he's a senior fellow at the middle east institute and also the author of blind spot america. and the palestinians from balfour to trump, from london, were joined by andrea creek as senior electra and defense studies at king's college, london. and, and birmingham is lucas professor nurses at birmingham university and founder as a well doing news analysis websites. very warm welcome to will. thank you for joining us gentlemen. i want to start with the timing of this now biden's, last trip to the region was what? over 12 years ago as vice president and he's obviously been president for a year and a half. now, it hasn't gone unnoticed that it's taken some time for this trip to take place. now,

the administration of if he says they have plenty of reasons to be that. but given the oil price and the proximity of u. s. mid terms, i would guess that regional allies on time to any illusions about the urgency of this visit. so let me start with you on dress. what's the u. s. relationship like now with its middle east and allies? i know the word transactional has been used to to describe that relationship of late. well, yes. i think the biggest problem that the united states has at the moment is that it's too much preoccupied. by dement domestic polarization. it's kind of almost paralyzed by what's going in washington. the 6 of generally committee, a lot of pressure also on, on biden to deliberate, hasn't really delivered on much the american america isn't an unprecedented crisis domestically. and his, this trip to the middle east is obviously coming against this backdrop. so he's kind of trying to show that he wants to have a foreign policy success. he wants to show that in terms of energy policy, energy politics,

as well as supply chain security. he's actually someone who's getting things done, but he has very little to show for, for what he's actually been promising. and it's also kind of doubtful that he's, that we will be able to actually show anything in terms of success on, on the, on this very particular trip. so biden is very much with a back against the wall. we've got midterm elections as he were already saying. and so people are looking at him saying, what is he actually, what does he have to show for himself? and he's leave it, he's entering into a region that and that's not just the bottom problem, that for 3 consecutive presidents, it's actually been left to its own devices and that kids have been filled by local players and by extra regional plays such as russia and china as competitors of the united states, so the united states is coming as a superpower to the region, but no longer really is received on the ground and perceived on the ground as a real superpower. because it's really very impotent now. and very different middle east from by this last trip. now he started his trip in israel and his last visit

obviously wasn't uncontroversial. stop. what do you think tele vivas hoping to get out of this visit? might the actual visit the presidential visit of someone like joe biden, boucher, an appeal profile ahead of the november elections that well, i mean, certainly yearly paid. indeed, any israeli politician will try to get some type of mileage for domestic reasons. ahead of the elections provided being seen with biden isn't to toxic, but now the overwriting is really concerns or let's keep the focus on iran and who needs to talk about, published on. and by that i mean, of course, that there are no serious is relative policy negotiations. there haven't been any of substance since 2014. and i would argue there haven't been any significant israeli palestinian negotiation since 2009 the 1st year when joe biden was, was vice president. and israel doesn't want to change. israel wants to maintain its autonomy, including over the occupied territories. they made a token gesture of just today saying, or it will delay not canceled the delay,

the building of some settlements in the, in the west bank. but pretty much israel has the upper hand in palestine and no air of state. one of the united states is going to challenge up with this point. and of course, what does israel really want to talk about? they want to talk about this, this block to contain iran somewhat argued push iran back. and that, of course, is a block which has really been forged with the u. s. in a sense on the side where they are state such as saudi arabia and the u. a. i want to get to some of the regional dynamics in a minute. but i do also want to talk about the piece process between israel and palestine, so called p process, the administration, the by the ministration says it's still working towards that. now call it, i know you yourself have been involved in previous talks between the palestinians and the israelis given the current situation and the u. s. response to the killing about their agenda history. and lastly, how the palestinians actually viewing joe biden as the president at the moment.

well, 1st of all, i think there's a deep sense of disappointment in the, by the administration on the part of certainly the palestinian leadership but, but much more. so the palestinian people, although expectations are already pretty low on that front. as far as the leadership is concerned, they were hoping for a much more proactive and engaged administration after or years of trump that had really set back. american house didn't relations to an unprecedented, lo and so far, most of the trump legacy remains intact, with the exception of you know, opening direct ties with the palestinian leadership, restarting some aid to the palestinians, which is something the administration frequently likes to play up. but other than that,

the bulk of the trump legacy on jerusalem on the u. s. consulate in jerusalem on the closure of the pillow mission. and frankly, he been on settlements. things like the former secretary of state mike pump policies to legitimize settlements to treat products made in israeli settlements as made an israel to do away with the term occupied territory. these are doing away with the legal memo on the legality of israeli settlements. all of these things are still on the books and i think palestinians are kind of scratching their head and saying, why haven't these policies been reversed? well, let me bring andreas and here, andreas as colored been saying, it seems that the button administration has largely embraced a lot of the time period policies. so was not a considered decision on the part of that administration or has been just been distracted by a whole lot of other issues. well, yes, he has been distracted,

but i would say this administration is very clear. it is when it comes to foreign and security policy more widely, but particularly on the middle east. it hasn't delivered. he's written off in the washington post this week or last week, where it becomes quite clear that there isn't the strategy. there isn't a vision, there isn't something that america can actually deliver. and the problem is there is a growing se, do gap. and what i mean by that is what america preaches. and what it actually does is it's becoming ever more avert lee. that becomes an ever growing discrepancy between these 2 things. and i think what we, what we see particularly the issue of palestine is that there hasn't been a reversal on, on any of the term policies. there is actually continuation of a path that has been going, you know, has been set for decades already. and all we see is the presence like obama or trumbull bite. and they might have put an edit different new ones to it, but at least on a truck with someone was quite as destructive as he was. he was very overtly

destructive, that you knew what you were getting with biden. there's a lot of ambiguity about, on the, on one hand saying we are interested in engaging with the palestinians, were interested in gauging with iran. but when it comes to actually doing something about it, you know, reality is hitting and that same is true for saudi arabia and a lot of narrative about human rights conditionality. but when it comes to actually delivering on it, there is a continuation of the status quo that is very, very much, very, very puzzling for, for both sides of the device in the middle east. the iran does know what to expect . the saudis don't know what to expect. you don't know what to expect. israel does know what to expect. and that sort of creates this ambiguity and a state of, of leaderless a chaos in the region. which other people have been willing to fill. other nations have been willing to fill. iran was able to act as they see fit to ease acting as they see fit. we've got russia and china moving in where the americans have. busy withdrawn, the problem is, what does america actually want to? that's the question. the binding ministration has an onset in the same way that the

previous to president 7 out of the question either. well, i'm interested in how us politics actually relates to the region and how regional leaders are viewing the us. because i see biden's approval rating at home is what now just 33 percent. and majority of democratic versus a saying that he should not be on the ballot in 2024. so now given the possible change of administration and not too long, scott, how do you think regional leaders are actually viewing by? well, i've got a lot of contacts from saudi arabia who from day one of the, by the ministration simply scoffed at by manners advisors. they had very bad relationship with biden, and the obama administration. and they expected this to carry on. they see the by the ministration is being too weak on iran. they see biden as being too weak in general. and the israeli civil relation. although by and talks a lot about the primacy of israel in relationship, they don't necessarily see buying as a strong leader, especially in the context of where the u. s. is where the divided domestic scene.

but i think, and i agree with a lot of what andreas, but i only have one point just for discussion, right. i do disagree with them. i don't think buying into ministration or clueless . i think they know what is going on in the middle east, but i think they realize they don't have leverage. and by that, i mean, a few years ago, after my surgery was assassinated, probably on the orders of my husband solomon there was leverage the church, wanted something to be done. other countries were appalled by what was happening and you could have acted then, of course donald trump didn't move for 2022. and the fact is that, well, 3 things. why do you just doesn't have leverage? first of all, it has been outflanked by the maneuvers between israel and the europe states. secondly, it faces, as long as it puts its priority on containing iran and doesn't reach a settlement where they are all over the nuclear program. then saudi arabia has leverage on that issue. and thirdly,

is the question that will supply in the context of russia's invasion of ukraine, you know, a conflict which is likely to be protracted. so if your opponents have leverage, not your pounds, if your dental office or leverage like the saudis in this realist, you don't go in to antagonize them biting. in other words is playing on the defensive. not because he's clueless, but simply because american power is not exactly very powerful in the current context, original politics. well, one of the things that bite has really come under fire for at home in the u. s. is this next stop on his trip in saudi arabia college you're sitting in the us now to very tricky time for biden. how are us versus viewing this whole trip? was it's interesting because actually the old show even though usually the public is public opinion, is pretty disengaged from foreign policy. and they, but they generally like presidents to, to sort of lead on foreign policy matters. the deposed, currently that i've seen are showing quite

a lot of disapproval for this trip. i think part of the problem is most americans, like i think, many analysts in washington and elsewhere and diplomat than others don't really understand. the purpose of this, of this trip, is it a photo op? is it really, is it about oil prices, the administration? he's telling us that it's not. is it about domestic politics sort of fostering with israel ahead of a mid term election and using israel to market? it's the administration ties to saudi arabia as a way maybe to blunt criticism. you know, your guess is as good as mine. the american public simply doesn't understand. i mean, 1st of all, they don't really care about foreign policy. you know, foreign policy directly affects their lives. just have a look of course at,

at oil prices and gas prices. administration has not done a good job of explaining the linkage between these foreign crises and the situation back at home. and i think as a result, most americans just don't understand. and as a result, end up kind of disapproving. well, as you say that the white house has been dismissing criticism and biden's trip, the saudi arabia, here's what national security advisor jake sullivan had to say about that when it comes right down to a trip proof that strategic interest include oil and gas. when it comes right down to it, are always going to override something like human rights. america's values, human rights are a strategic interest of the united states. so is energy security. so with stopping terrorism. so we're seeking peace in a place like yemen. so we're trying to do multiple things all at once, advance along a number of different tracks. one of those tracks is in fact ending the blank check policy. and as i said before,

the basic thrust and purpose of our policy with respect to saudi arabia has been to recalibrate the relationship, but not rupture. it we have stayed true to that from the beginning of this administration. andreas recalibrate not rupture. is that code for we need help with the oil price? yes, this is code, but i agree with what was said previously. there is no evidence whatsoever that this trip is going to make a difference on the oil price on inflation. you know, we know that the saudis and the emerald is actually have reached somewhat the end of the line when it comes to their capacity. they will not want to buy in into the, into the, into the, into the reserve capacity at this point. and even if they did, the 1000000 barrels that they could bring on line per day will not make a huge difference to bring down the oil price at the pump. so all of that is kind of window dressing. i understand that obviously supply chains need to be, need to be taken care of. and obviously there is a huge concern that there is this pivot of the u. a in saudi arabia towards russia and china,

particularly because they are oil and energy and interdependencies growing as the oil and energy into dependencies with america are actually going down. but at the same time, this trip will not do very much in that respect. i think what this is about is more about security is about creating a new lives, and i think the reproach more that we will. and i say we're approach more rather normalization, but there will be a reproach more announced between saudi arabia and israel on some strategic matters . and i think that's going to be the kind of foreign policy when that biden is looking for. but, you know, as the previous speak set, the issue here is everyone is scratching the head about why is he doing this? what is he? what is there to win for the biden administration? because everyone will look right through it. i mean, recalibrating this relationship for what benefit and benefits the saudis, benefits the israelis. but what does it really do for the biden administration? you talk about building this alliance, and i want to take a bit of a broader view here because this is all taking place within the context of a war that's raging on an ukraine. now, the u. s. has obviously made no secret of trying to create

a global coalition to counter russian aggression there. so i was interested looking at some opinion polls in the militia. it seems that many more people and many more countries, more anti american than they are pro ukraine. scott, how much support is by actually likely to get for that agenda? well, i'm not sure if bike will get a great show support from the middle east, but the purpose of this trip is to keep air of countries from going to the other side. just as the us did in its approach to india, where it was worry that india would become too supportive of russia. indeed, almost back the invasion and worked for months to prevent that happening. part of this trip here is to try to limit the development of ties which andreas has written about, you know, between russia and saudi arabia were energy. and d, you had a russian on board who just recently was and saw your area. so i think from the standpoint of real politic and look,

human rights are expendable here. ideals are spend away here. the idea here is make sure not only is saudi arabia not only the us, but indeed the entire gulf area at least stays neutral. in this conflict and indeed began so as it were in quiet ways to sort of support the ongoing international coalition to push back on the russian invasion. so i suspect in september because it's being leaked from both sides, both from the saudi side in the us side. the saudis will increased oil production in september. how much of that will buffer the domestic situation in the united states and help bind before november's election? i don't know, but the increase in oil production by the saudis will send a message, which is we're not dependent on russia, we're not being held hostage by russia. and that's a pretty important message at what may be a turning point in the ukraine conflict with kia beginning to score some success in the battlefield. i was interested to see the jake sullivan here is by the national security advisor. he's also very recently revealed that intelligence agencies have decided that iran was planning to aid russia and it's battle against ukraine color

. how might that shape conversations in the coming days, especially given the space of the talks around the iran nuclear? well, obviously iran is going to be a big focus of this trip, both in israel and in saudi arabia. so there's, there's no question about that. whether, whether that means there's going to be some progress at some point on the iran nuclear deal. that remains to be seen so far. we haven't seen that. so again, i think this sort of plays into this, this question about that most people have about what is this trip really about? but if i could just sort of go back to the point that was raised earlier about about human rights, i agree with the it was andreas who said the, this, there's this huge gap between what the administration says and does. and i think that is nowhere more evident than in this rhetoric about,

about human rights. and frankly, whether we're talking about israel or saudi arabia, the, both of their records on human rights are quite a bit small. and we're seeing the administration really give a pass not just those 2 regimes, but also others that will be attending the, the summit in saudi arabia, for example, like egypt or jordan. egypt has an especially reduced record on human rights. there is a growing sense that busy administration is really prepared to, i think, trade away human rights and democracy in a way that even the by did ministration was didn't go as far as i didn't been. i'm sorry, i didn't talk to him because i do want to give andre a very quick last because i'm curious in one sentence, andreas, what would you say

a successful trip would look like there is no successful trip a because i would absolutely agree with everything that's been said at this point is that there, this trip is going to be defined by of week president and a week united states that is unable to leverage whatever leverage they've left. and the say do got is just widening and that leaves a credibility gap as well. that a very easily be defined and, and filled by the russians. and the chinese who do all returned stability, much better than the americans. so at least the, they're very upfront, very direct about what they're doing. i'll see how it all plays out in the coming day. as well, in the meantime there thank you to all of our guest colorado, gandhi, andreas krieg and scott lucas. and thank you to for watching. remember, you can see this program again any time by visiting our website that's out there a dot com. and to have the discussion do go to our facebook page. that's facebook dot com, forward slash ha inside story. and you can also always join the conversation on twitter handle is at a j inside story. for me is darcy, hey, i'm the whole team here and are huh. 5 ah

ah the rip hotel is the oh tell that i've ever stated in the biggest box you have ever seen. how does it explode or taken out? this was we loved it when it was built and really not even where it was bombed. a major target of the conflict in northern ireland in the late 20th century belfast europa war hotels on al jazeera, new,

a diverse range of stories from across the globe. from the perspective about networks, journalists on al jazeera joe biden is set to visit israel, the palestinian territory, and saudi arabia in an ultimate test of foreign policy set. during his election campaign, were ending all american support for offensive operations in the war in yemen. what we've done by the actions that we've taken is not to rupture the relationship but to recalibrate as russia and china compete for influence over the region at a moment of going to upheaval with us get back in the game. biden, in the middle east on al jazeera, ah, this is al jazeera ah.