Ali Abunimah, an old friend of Barack Obama's and a leading member of the Arab-American community who has not yet been invited to the White House, reflects on the visit of 16 Jewish machers to the president's table on Monday and concludes that Obama's "pressure" on Israel has so far been toothless and without real effect. I wish I could write so calmly and logically (not in my skill set):
Obama has consistently stressed his belief in the "unbreakable" US-Israeli relationship. Considering his actions and words so far, there is little reason to doubt him. But unless he is prepared to go much further than anyone has publicly contemplated in pressuring Israel, his peace initiative has negligible chances of success.
For months the focus has been on Obama's demand that Israel agree to a complete cessation of settlement construction, including the subterfuge called "natural growth." It was during a similar "freeze" in the early 1990s that Israel built thousands of settler housing units on occupied land. Arab optimism and Israeli anxiety were amplified as Obama and his Middle East Envoy George Mitchell said repeatedly that this time they wanted a total halt.
Yet the firmness shows signs of erosion. Israeli press reports spoke of a "compromise" taking shape in which Israel would be allowed to complete thousands of already planned housing units. Although those reports were denied by the United States, several participants in the White House meeting said Obama alluded to an unspecified compromise in the works.
Anything short of a complete cessation of settlement construction will mark an achievement for Israel; what is important is not the number of units the United States may approve, but the principle that this administration, like its predecessors, will license Israel's illegal colonization. Once that principle is established, Israel may present more faits accomplis and build at will.
And even if Israel does agree to a verifiable cessation, the US has structured the matter as a quid pro quo in which Israel is not required to do anything without receiving a reward. The president has appealed to Arab states to normalize ties with Israel if it freezes settlements, including opening diplomatic missions and allowing overflights by El Al aircraft (recall that when en route to bomb Iraq's nuclear reactor in 1981, Israeli warplanes reportedly falsely identified themselves as commercial aviation). Given how little leverage the Arab side has, it would be totally disarmed if it conceded any such gestures in exchange for so little.
Related posts:
- Report: Obama won’t bend to Israeli ‘tricks’ re settlements
- Settlers seek to avenge Obama pressure by going after Palestinians
- Sarandon Sees ‘Both Sides’ in Israel’s Illegal Colonization of West Bank
- At last, Arab pressure on Obama to cut off US funding for West Bank colonies
- ‘J Street’/Eldar: Obama must pressure Netanyahu
{ 12 comments }
I have more faith. Even if the agreement results in all new permitting and construction stopping, that is a GOOD outcome. Who knows if that will occur?
All I know so far is Obama is said to have remained firm on the settlement freeze, and allegedly no "peace" machers that met with him confronted him directly on this stance. They instead pressed for working things out behind closed doors, and he has been alleged to sick to public presentation of disputes with Israel as the best medicine towards health of all parties concerned. (At first the machers argued making disputes public would only make the Israelis dig there heels in,and when then didn't work, they argued it would feed radical Arabs.) That's the substance of a letter I got from J Street today. Meanwhile I've been reading in Jewish papers that the settlements continue, and new trailers parked etc, even as a few trailer parks are taken down, and a few roadblocks have been opened, yet with everything and everybody at post, ready to resume in the blink of an eye. Surely Obama must know this? Or is he really busy and nobody's updating him? He's alleged to be really serious about taking his special window in time to resolve the I-P dispute, and that he puts that as primary and Iran secondary, the reverse of the AIPAC-Israel logic. And now, old pal Ali Abunimah can't even access him in any way, nor any other Arab ethnic? He does appear toothless. His whole relationship with the bankers has been toothless; he must know he put the same rooster in charge of the hen house– yet I read recently that he wants to replace Bernake…. I think, as with the bailout roots, he will tinker around the edges, for example his hard press on the Credit Card industry to at least given card holders a simple plain talk agreement, as he is pressing for a simple plain talk mortgage agreement form. No change in the root evils in either case, but a little bit of bragging rights. I conclude at this juncture that is what he is angling for with the I-P situation. Change just so much to produce a fig leaf of change, something he can run on next campaign cycle, knowing the Repubs won't publicly dig at the roots of the corrupt system in terms of Israel and our Banking-monetary system because they have an indelible identical interest there too. If Obama doesn't get more corrupted by all this, and wins a second term, then, maybe we will get the real Obama we hoped for as he won't have to worry about a third term. Time will tell. Of course by then the whole world may have changed, and not for the good, to be sure.
What's the difference between illegal settlements in Palestine, and purposely repopulating the United States with legal and illegal immigrants against the will of the vast majority of the American population? Population transfer is an old trick.
sick=stick then-that
Further, Obama's national health plan will cover all, including all illegals, and he claims the rich defined as making over $350,000 a year will pay for it, of course that in addition to those making under $250,000 who were not to be taxed at all. This will be in addition to charging others for illegals coming to the emergency room. And so on. Those who's meagre wealth will be most transferred will be the working class singles and lower to middle class working families. The other group especially burdened will be small business. The poor, single mom's, the rich will reap much.
The rich can hire accountants and lawyers to hide their income and wealth, and they are the ones with Obama-exempt capital gains. Many lowly people now have 401 Ks and other such devices, but those funds are taxed as ordinary income of course. Not the same stock gains and dividends. Any one hear anything about Obama raising the cap on SS tax instead of annually always making the cut off at the same income tier, adjusted for that year? I have not. Important indicator of how serious Obama is about real change.
Jews Building in our homeland is legal viva colonization!
Obviously, Obama will continue to capitulate to Zionist pressure and appoint more Zionist subversives to government posts until Muslim Americans, Arab Americans, and decent people in general make sure that Obama feels a genuine downside to pandering Jewish Zionists: Anti-Zionist Strategy for Muslim Americans . (Note I did speak with Dr. Syeed. He claimed that the article on the ISNA web site was misleading. If so, he should make ISNA take it down.)
So, you have just stated that Muslims and Arabs are different from decent people. interesting admission.
Muslim Americans and Arab Americans are hardly disjunct sets. Why would you assume that the phraseology Muslim Americans, Arab Americans, and decent people implies that decent people for a set disjunct from the union of Arab Americans and Muslim Americans? Are you expressing the racist thinking of a Zionist or the Pavlovian conditioning that Zionists have been trying to enforce on the population of the USA: Zionist Indoctrination: Boston Grammar Schools?
It is not the Jew's fault that thor can not structure a sentence. Thor continues to stress that Muslims and Arabs are different then decent people. Seems that thor is just another racist ranting on MondoLies.
Obama cannot "legalize" any colonies.
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