Call me disgusted, furious, and terribly disappointed.
Senator Obama, it seems, is off to a sad start. His first major speech as the Democrats’ nominee-to-be was made yesterday before the hard-line Israel lobby, AIPAC, a group that has consistently put its foot in the way of Palestinian-Israeli peace. And Obama, sounding more like a sleazy politician than a candidate of change, gave them exactly what they wanted: hawkish rhetoric towards Iran and, most astoundingly, a promise to ensure that Jerusalem remains undivided. He also indicated that the United States would be forthcoming with $30 billion dollars of aid (no questions asked) over the next ten years.
It’s enough to make you sick. Any hope for a change of policy on Israel – the charting of a new direction towards a more even-handed approach to the conflict – has been dashed. Obama appears set to follow the same failed policies of his predecessors: unconditional aid, unconditional allegiance, and an unwillingness to push Israel to make the concessions needed to forge a peace agreement. If a President Obama actually follows through on the type of policies that he laid out yesterday, prepare to kiss goodbye any possibility of a peace accord.
The implications of not reaching an agreement in the coming years are devastating. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is often considered a major catalyst for regional instability and a powerful recruitment tool for Islamic radicals; failure to establish an accord will dangerously exacerbate such issues. Moreover, as time rolls on, the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state becomes less and less. Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem, which continues as we speak, severely undercut the likelihood of peace. Indeed, there will reach a point (some analysts, in fact, say it’s already been reached) where the “facts on the ground” of settlement construction will render a two-state solution untenable. And then God only knows what happens. Unfortunately, Obama, if yesterday’s speech is any guide, appears set to provide the same kind of failed leadership on this issue that we’ve seen over the last eight years, summed up in a simple phrase: “give Israel what it wants, whenever it wants it.”
Most damaging and discouraging was Obama’s comment that he would ensure that Jerusalem remains undivided in any future peace deal. Who does he think he’s kidding?! Since UN Resolution 242, way back in 1967, there has never been a viable Israeli-Palestinian peace proposal that hasn’t included the division of Jerusalem (with West Jerusalem going to the Israelis, and East Jerusalem to the Palestinians.) You can be sure that no Palestinian leader would ever accept an accord that would grant the Israelis full sovereignty over the holy city; indeed, Mahmoud Abbas recently said as much.
It seems an odd thing to say, but we can only hope that Obama is just pandering to get votes…And that he doesn’t honestly believe this garbage.