Biden and PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas
Biden and PA chairman Mahmoud AbbasFlash 90

Palestinian Arab leaders on Saturday welcomed the victory of Joe Biden in the US presidential election.

Nabil Shaath, a senior Palestinian Authority (PA) official, was quoted by the Anadolu news agency as having said that "nothing was worse than Trump's era, his departure is a gain."

Hanan Ashrawi, a senior leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) also welcomed the results and tweeted, “America Detrumped!”

“The world also needs to be able to breathe. Trumpism must be carefully scrutinized & remedied to restore the human, moral & legal equilibrium within and beyond the US. Such phenomena do not emerge from a vacuum. Now is the time for holistic & bold therapeutics,” she added.

However, so far there has been no official statement from PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Biden’s victory.

The PA’s relationship with the Trump administration has been strenuous. PA leaders have rejected Trump's peace proposal outright, and dismiss the idea that his administration could mediate impartially on this issue.

The PA has been boycotting the administration since 2017, when Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The PA demands that eastern Jerusalem be the capital of a future Palestinian state.

In August of 2018, Trump's administration decided to completely halt its funding for the UN agency for “Palestinian refugees” (UNRWA), which had previously stood at around $350 million a year.

Later, it announced it would cut $25 million more in direct aid to six hospitals that primarily serve Palestinian Arabs in Jerusalem.

In another move, Washington cut aid to the PA for programs supporting conflict resolution with Israelis.

Before this week’s vote, PA cabinet leader Mohammad Shtayyeh said a Trump victory will be disastrous for his people and the world at large.

“If we are going to live another four years with President Trump, God help us, God help you and God help the whole world,” he said.