Did Arabs and more importantly, Palestinians, put too much faith in Barack Obama? According to columnist M. Saadoune of Algeria’s Le Quotidien d’Oran, anyone who thought President Obama would shake up the balance of power in the Middle East and make possible a Palestinian state was extremely naive, and now has learned the truth.
For the Le Quotidien d’Oran, columnist M. Saadoune writes in part:
So there you have it: for two years, an American president has pretended to further the Middle East peace process, hoodwinking Mahmoud Abbas and vassal states considered moderate along the way, before reverting to his true character – an uncritical defender of Israeli occupation.
During these two years, the settlements expanded and there hasn’t been an iota of progress in the peace process. The president of the United States ventured to call for a freeze in the settlements before backing down in line with expectations. And he did so as if he had never said a thing. Only in his third year now, Barack Obama now recalls that there is a Jewish electorate to be buttered up with talk of unwavering support for Israel. His much-vaunted Cairo speech directed at the Muslim world was hollow, but it fooled many.
Obama didn’t just fall from the sky to become president of the United States. He is an American politician anointed by the establishment, and he must take account of the balance of power within the U.S. There is nothing particularly unusual in that. But what was curious was the almost saintly aura attributed to him by his fans in the Arab world, which presumed (because of his color?) that he was more inclined than any other president to shake up the current order. That notion was utterly absurd. Obama’s own party is largely under the influence of the Israel lobby.
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