What will Obama have to do to forge a historic deal between Israel, confronting what it seems are multiple threats to its very existence, and the Palestinians, whose decades-long struggle to survive weighs heavily on many a conscience? According to Francois Sergent of France’s Liberation, success will require an end to Western ‘double standards’ that favor Israel.
For Liberation, Francois Sergent writes in part:
“For Arabs and Palestinians in particular, the United States is not a neutral arbiter, but an ally of one of the parties to the conflict, ‘held hostage by the pro-Israeli lobby.’ Of course, the security of the Hebrew state, regularly threatened by the Iranian Strangelove [President Ahmadinejad], must be preserved – but security is not simply a military question. Obama understands quite well that the Palestinian question cannot be resolved independently of the regional equation, an arc of crisis that stretches from Pakistan to the Mediterranean. That is why he must insist that Netanyahu accept a Palestinian state – a solution which is also desired by a majority of Israelis. We must put an end to the policy of double standards, even when they are in the interests of allies in Israel.”
By François Sergent
Translated By Elise Nussbaum
May 20, 2009
France – Liberation – Original Article (French)
Might the Promised Land also be the scene of a miracle? The world expects much from Barack Obama, especially the Middle East. It was in this region more than any other that Bush carried out one of the most calamitous policies of his reign, managing simultaneously to alienate both the governments in the region, and their Arab and Muslim populations, without gaining any additional security for the United States or Israel.
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