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      John Brennan: Joe Biden Should Watch “The Present”

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      On a recent evening I watched “The Present,” a short film by Farah Nablusi, a Palestinian filmmaker, which was nominated for an Academy Award for live-action short film (the winner in the category was “Two Distant Strangers). Ms. Nablusi’s 25-minute film is a powerful, heartbreaking account of the travails of Yusuf, a Palestinian man, and Yasmine, his young daughter, as they traverse an Israeli military checkpoint in the West Bank twice in a single day.“The Present” establishes its context quickly, opening with images of Palestinian men making their way through a narrow passageway at one of the numerous checkpoints that dot the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Palestinians going to work, visiting family or shopping on the opposite side of a security barrier have to bear this humiliating procedure every day.Yusuf sets out with Yasmine to buy an anniversary gift for his wife. He is held in a chain-link holding pen. The ostensible reason is that the Israeli guards want to search him and his possessions more thoroughly. Yasmine sits nearby, watching and waiting in silence.The scene brought back memories of my first visit to the West Bank in 1975, when I crossed the Jordan River and arrived at an Israeli security post. As a student at the American University in Cairo, I was excited about visiting Jerusalem and spending Christmas Eve in Bethlehem. I joined a relatively short line, which moved at a steady and efficient pace.A few feet away, I could see men, women and children in a much longer line fully enclosed by steel mesh fencing labeled “Palestinians and Arabs.” I saw several subjected to discourtesy and aggressive searches by Israeli soldiers.While I was distressed by what I saw, I knew that Israel had legitimate security concerns in the aftermath of the 1967 and 1973 wars, worries that had been heightened by attacks on Israeli and Jewish targets by Palestinian terrorist organizations.Half a century has passed, and the political and security landscape of the Middle East has profoundly changed.Israel has signed peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan. The Abraham Accords, brokered by the United States last year, have paved the way for four more Arab states — the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco — to establish diplomatic relations with Israel. Hopefully, more Arab leaders will follow suit as there is no reason and little geostrategic sense in continuing to deny the reality and permanence of the state of Israel. (Unfortunately, the accords did nothing for the Palestinians except to obtain a suspension of Israeli plans to illegally annex the West Bank.)There also has been significant progress in reducing violence carried out by Palestinians inside and outside the occupied territories. The exception is Hamas, which continues to launch rocket attacks into Israel from the Gaza Strip.In the West Bank, Palestinian security and intelligence services have worked closely with their Israeli, Arab and Western counterparts to disrupt extremist networks and prevent attacks. These Palestinian agencies have demonstrated an impressive degree of professionalism over the past two decades.Despite sharply reduced tensions between Israel and the Arab world, the Palestinian people themselves have seen no appreciable progress in their quest to live in their own sovereign state. Political fissures and the ineffective political leadership of the Palestinian Authority have contributed to stymying ambitions for Palestinian nationhood.But that could change. Legislative elections in May and presidential elections in July in the West Bank and Gaza offer Palestinians an opportunity to elect representatives capable of conducting a more effectual political dialogue within the Palestinian homeland and beyond. Palestinian candidates who do not bear the sclerotic reputations of political incumbents, if elected, would help soften the deep-rooted cynicism that many Israeli officials display toward Palestinian negotiators.The major hurdle will be to reverse the trend of diminished interest that the Israeli government has shown in pursuing a two-state solution. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has spearheaded relentless expansion of settlements in the West Bank. That expansion has brought along more concrete walls, security barriers and control points, further reducing the spaces where Palestinians can live, graze their flocks, tend their olive groves and vegetable gardens without being challenged by their occupiers.Unfortunately, during the Trump years, the United States ignored Palestinian interests and aspirations. Mr. Trump moved the American Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, rejecting the position of all previous U.S. administrations that it would endanger final status negotiations on that contested city. He senselessly severed funding to the Palestinian Authority and ended our contributions to the United Nations for Palestinian refugee assistance.In a welcome change, the Biden administration has authorized the release of $235 million for humanitarian, economic and development programs supporting Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza and elsewhere in the region.The concluding scene of “The Present” shows Yusuf, tired and hobbled with back pain, increasingly angry and on the verge of violence as he attempts to return home with the anniversary gift. His chilling, emotional outburst made me think of the frustration felt by every Palestinian who has to live with the stifling security measures and political oppression attendant to Israel’s military occupation.It was his little daughter, Yasmine, though, who gave me most pause and concern. She watched her father’s patience, dignity and humanity steadily erode.I can only imagine the imprint such experiences have on the young girls and boys who live in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. They grow up traumatized by injustice, discrimination and violence. They live with the feeling that their existence is controlled by people who don’t care about their welfare, their safety or their future.The Biden administration is dealing with a dizzying array of domestic and international problems but the Palestinian quest for statehood deserves the early engagement of his national security team. The United States needs to tell Israeli leaders to cease provocative settlement construction and the sort of oppressive security practices depicted in “The Present.”A clear signal from President Biden that he expects and is ready to facilitate serious Israeli-Palestinian discussions on a two-state solution would be of great political significance.John Brennan is a former director of the Central Intelligence Agency.The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: letters@nytimes.com.Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram. More

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      Working to Improve Medicare and Medicaid

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchBest Movies on NetflixBest of Disney PlusClassic Holiday MoviesHoliday TVBest Netflix DocumentariesAdvertisementContinue reading the main storyOpinionSupported byContinue reading the main storylettersWorking to Improve Medicare and MedicaidThe agency’s administrator says it is striving for innovative health care, not defending the status quo. Also: A hint of voter fraud; reaction to Pope Francis; the survival of movie theaters.Dec. 2, 2020, 1:23 p.m. ETMore from our inbox:Election Fraud? Where’s the Evidence?Pope Francis Shows Us the WayWill Movie Theaters Survive?Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, with President Trump last month.Credit…Erin Schaff/The New York TimesTo the Editor:Re “Science Under Assault at Medicare and Medicaid,” by Peter B. Bach (Op-Ed, Dec. 2):Everything we do at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services serves one goal: to dismantle a status quo that thwarts innovative, high-quality health care.Seniors wait years for Medicare access to technologies approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Our proposed rule will give seniors immediate access to safe devices while still incentivizing innovators to gather data supporting permanent coverage.Likewise, we’ve fought the special interests that have long dictated the prices Americans pay for drugs. Medicare financially rewards providers who prescribe the highest cost drugs, often at seniors’ expense. We are fixing this.And for many states, work incentives offer a pathway to sustainable coverage for adults on Medicaid. Supporters of the status quo often cite a flawed study to support their predetermined beliefs, ignoring that it was based on one state’s early experience with a program operational for only a few months. Innovative ideas to lift Americans from poverty deserve to be fully evaluated.Fighting for change is harder than defending the status quo, but Americans deserve nothing less.Seema VermaWashingtonThe writer is administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.Election Fraud? Where’s the Evidence? Credit…Al Drago for The New York TimesTo the Editor:Re “In Blow to Trump, Barr Sees No Basis for Fraud Claims” (front page, Dec. 2):Attorney General William Barr acknowledged that the Justice Department had found no voter fraud “on a scale that could have effected a different outcome.”Has the Justice Department found any fraud anywhere in the United States during the 2020 presidential election? If so, I (and the American public) would sure like to see some evidence of fraud.For Mr. Barr even to hint at any voter fraud, without producing the evidence, is merely another example of his slavish support of his boss.Daniel FinkBeverly Hills, Calif.Pope Francis Shows Us the Way   Credit…Illustration by Najeebah Al-Ghadban; photographs by Getty ImagesTo the Editor:Re “A Crisis Reveals What Is in Our Hearts” (Sunday Review, Nov. 29):The words Pope Francis wrote were so touching and profound. They made me realize how as a country we have to put aside political parties and pick what is best from each party. We have to look at the world differently — at people differently — and come to a place where we can look at people in a more inclusive way.We need to give back and we have to move forward with love in our hearts and gratitude. We have to be thankful and set aside judgment and anger. Only in doing that will we as individuals and as a country survive in the way God intended.Blanche O’ConnellGreenwich, Conn.Will Movie Theaters Survive?  Credit…Philip Cheung for The New York TimesTo the Editor:Re “Hollywood’s End, the Sequel,” by Brooks Barnes (Sunday Business, Nov. 29):Once again, we get a premonition of movie theaters’ imminent demise. Coincidentally, I read Mr. Barnes’s piece just after seeing the wonderful new film “Mank” at my neighborhood art house, the Belcourt Theater, in Nashville. As the director Ava DuVernay says in the article, “Theaters aren’t going anywhere, at least not all of them.” I sure hope she’s right.These cultural pillars — whether they’re showing the latest blockbusters or creative programming (“Mank” alongside “Citizen Kane,” which the Belcourt presented) — enrich modern life. Once a vaccine is widely available, we could all benefit from a night out at the movies.Trent HannerNashvilleAdvertisementContinue reading the main story More