By OHAD MERLIN
On the virtual streets of social media in the Middle East, no cries of sorrow were to be heard following US President Biden’s decision to withdraw.
In Palestinian groups from Gaza, users could not hide their excitement. A user named Fares wrote: “Wars were waged against us only during the time of the Democrats: Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Proxy wars in Syria, Yemen, Lybia, and others. Trump's the best solution.” Another one named IAS added: “Biden withdraws from the election campaign. May Allah curse him;” while a last one named Najeh wrote: “Goodbye and on to history’s dumpster.”
Ramy Abdu, a Hamas affiliated operative residing in Europe, wrote: “Biden announced his withdrawal from the U.S. presidential race. Yet, for us Palestinians, his name will always be associated with the genocide committed by Israel under his support. To hell with you, Mr. Biden.”
Some users attempted to juxtapose the end of Biden’s candidacy with the one of other leaders in the area. A user named Boughanim write: Biden wanted to assassinate Sinwar... Biden went and Sinwar stayed” while Palestinian writer Saeed Ziad added: “Biden went, and Muhammad Al-Deif remained alive and fighting.” Likewise, a blogger named Hanady Gerges wrote: “In practice, Biden left and Assad remained.”
Palestinian users who often accused Biden of being “complicit in genocide” did not cry over Biden’s departure, nor were they disillusioned by a different candidate. One writer named Tamer wrote: “One of the most despicable American presidents and a major participant in the massacre, Holocaust and genocide in Gaza, Biden, announces that he is stepping down from candidacy for the US presidential elections, so that a more Zionist and criminal person can take his place to complete the mission.”
US President Joe Biden delivers remarks at the DNC 2023 Winter Meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US, February 3, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/ELIZABETH FRANTZ/FILE PHOTO)
Belal Nezar published a caricature of Biden swimming walking in a bath of blood with the writing “war criminal”, adding: By Allah.. War criminal Biden decides to step down from running in the US presidential elections.”
‘Gaza kicked out the dog with a final blow’
Users from countries across the Middle East reacted in a similar manner. Hussein, a user from Iraq, wrote: “Joe Biden, who supports genocide in Gaza, is stepping down from the presidential race. This is how the statement goes.”
A Saudi blogger named Salman Bin Hathlein added: “Biden announces his withdrawal from running in the presidential race. Glory be to Allah: Whoever vowed to ‘renounce’ Saudi Arabia is today an outcast for his people, his party and his nation; while my country is still proud and proud and achieves her gains and successes, and the whole world respects her.”
Fatima Triki, an Al-Jazeera journalist from Lebanon wrote “The smell of gunpowder in Gaza will remind you of the sickness of debate about whether the killing will be worth a thousand pounds [of explosives] or five hundred.”
While Egyptian journalist Salah Bedewi added: “On the eve of the visit of the pig Netanyahu to Washington, Gaza kicked out the dog with a final blow. He stepped down from the candidacy, and Gaza wills it, the terrorist pig Trump will fall resoundingly too.”
Iranian blogger Hossein Aghaie analyzed: “Without a doubt, the name Biden will be recorded as the worst and weakest president in American history... Biden's foreign policy record was a real disaster because his presence and weakness caused regional and extra-regional wars in the world… Harris does not have charisma, nor does she have enough time for the election campaign.”
Anti-Israel voices from the US also could not hide their joy. Nerdeen Kiswani, leading figure of the pro-Hamas protests including the ones held in front of the Nova massacre memorial, wrote: “9 months of saying genocide Joe has got to go, he finally got the message, but not before committing a heinous genocide against the Palestinian people. For democrats like Ilhan Omar and AOC who hitched their wagon to this Zionist murderer, know that you did so at the expense of Palestine only to make yourself more irrelevant. You all paved the way for the Trump presidency by normalizing the slaughter of Gaza.”
Likewise, Laila Al-Arian, journalist at Qatari mouthpiece Al-Jazeera and daughter of Palestinian Islamic Jihad affiliated operative deported from the US Sami Al-Arian, added: “Joe Biden is out of the race. His presidency will always be known for its role in the genocide of Gaza.” Similarly, British rapper critical of the Jewish state, Lowkey, added: “Genocide Joe Biden stands down. Gaza will live long after him.”
Author Sam Youssef wrote: Everyone who oppressed Gaza has entered the dustbin of history. Biden withdrew, Sunak was defeated in England, Macron’s party lost in the elections and the rest will come!!
Finally, some users expressed more conspiratorial views than others. A user named Hafez Abdallah wrote: “Zionist Biden who has dementia steps down from running for president in the upcoming presidential elections. Another Zionist will emerge. The fact is that global Zionism is the decision-maker and controls all aspects of the American system and other Western countries.
Finally, a self-described AI engineered named Ousama Nour Eddin added: “As if it was Biden's decision to step down, and as if the president in America is elected as a result of democratic elections and is thinking about his country and its people. There is a deep state that is the real owners of arms, medicine, and oil companies. It brings in the president who continues to follow its interests so that it continues to sell weapons, medicines, organs, etc. There are only donkeys here in Lebanon who think they are democratic.”
