Palestinian journalist: COVID starts the countdown to the end of America

Abdel Bari Atwan told viewers that he believes America is the source of the virus and will be destroyed by it.

By DONNA RACHEL EDMUNDS
A nurse wipes away tears as she stands outside NYU Langone Medical Center on 1st Avenue in Manhattan, U.S. April 16, 2020. (photo credit: REUTERS/MIKE SEGAR)
A nurse wipes away tears as she stands outside NYU Langone Medical Center on 1st Avenue in Manhattan, U.S. April 16, 2020.
(photo credit: REUTERS/MIKE SEGAR)
The COVID-19 pandemic "starts the countdown of the end of the American empire," a British Palestinian journalist has said, as he called for the rise of China in America's stead.
Abdel Bari Atwan made the comments in Arabic a video uploaded to his YouTube channel at the end of March, where they were seen and translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
In it, the former editor-in-chief of Al-Quds Al-Arabi, told viewers that he believes America is the source of the virus and will be destroyed by it.
"I lean toward believing the conspiracy theory that claims that America is the source of this virus and that it delivered it to the Chinese city of Wuhan," he said, adding: "The great spread [of the disease in the US] proves that this is a local virus rather than an imported one.
"America is no longer the superpower leading the world. It is no longer the world's leader. It has been defeated by a small virus you can hardly see with a microscope, so how can it lead the world?"
Atwan made headlines 10 years ago when he welcomed the destruction of Israel, saying that he would dance in London's Trafalgar Square were Israel to be attacked by Iranian missiles.
In his more recent pronouncement, Atwan made it clear in the video that he would welcome the destruction of America by the virus and her replacement by China as the global superpower, in part because of America's support for the Jewish state.
"What is America's heritage in the world? Its heritage consists of the laying of sieges, that starvation and stifling of peoples, and the supporting of fascist regimes, first and foremost of which is the Israeli regime," he said.
"That's the story. Who supports the racist Israeli regime? America and [US President Donald] Trump. Whoever wants to lead the world should set a moral, humane example. How can America lead the world when it wages wars, spreads germs, plagues, and viruses, and besieges and starves nations? How does it expect to lead the world? No! We don't want such leadership. Let China rise. Welcome. It won't be worse than America."
Atwan admits that China persecutes the Uyghur Muslims, which he "denounces," but nevertheless asserts that China "is now saving the world." The Communist Republic, he said, "has sent a fleet of airplanes to Italy, to save the Italians. It has also sent [aid] to the French, Algerians, Moroccans, and Lebanese. It has not rejected anyone's plea for help. Also in Africa. The Chinese have shown their human face."
He concludes: "I am telling you, the coronavirus starts the countdown of the end of the American empire. May Allah never let it return. We don't want it. We don't want its leadership. [America] is the country that brought destruction upon us."