• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • Mission Statement
  • Commenter Rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Account Access
The Moderate Voice

The Moderate Voice

An Internet hub with domestic and international news, analysis, original reporting, and popular features from the left, center, indies, centrists, moderates, and right

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Politics
  • Society
  • Arts & Entertainment
  • Media
  • Inspiration and Living
  • Economy
  • International
  • Movie Reviews

Breaking: Derek Chauvin found guilty on all three counts in death of George Floyd

Breaking: Derek Chauvin found guilty on all three counts in death of George Floyd

Posted on April 20, 2021
Murderer or ‘reasonable officer?’ Jury begins deliberations in Chauvin trial

Murderer or ‘reasonable officer?’ Jury begins deliberations in Chauvin trial

Posted on April 20, 2021
OBEDIENCE

OBEDIENCE

Posted on April 19, 2021
Democratic bill attempts to undo voter restrictions of past 15 years

Democratic bill attempts to undo voter restrictions of past 15 years

Posted on April 19, 2021
Sikhs in America: A religious community long misunderstood is mourning deaths in Indianapolis mass shooting

Sikhs in America: A religious community long misunderstood is mourning deaths in Indianapolis mass shooting

Posted on April 18, 2021
Poll: Most Americans want to end lifetime Supreme Court appointments but nix expanded court.

Poll: Most Americans want to end lifetime Supreme Court appointments but nix expanded court.

Posted on April 18, 2021
GOP Struggling To Harm Biden

GOP Struggling To Harm Biden

Posted on April 17, 2021
Vaccination rates break down along party lines

Vaccination rates break down along party lines

Posted on April 17, 2021
Are mass shootings an American epidemic?

Are mass shootings an American epidemic?

Posted on April 16, 2021
Another US mass shooting leaves eight dead in Indianapolis

Another US mass shooting leaves eight dead in Indianapolis

Posted on April 16, 2021
… and the Oscar goes to … Are they kidding?

… and the Oscar goes to … Are they kidding?

Posted on April 16, 2021
Afghanistan: It’s Done. No More. 3.0  (UPDATE)

Afghanistan: It’s Done. No More. 3.0 (UPDATE)

Posted on April 15, 2021
U.S. imposes wide array of sanctions on Russia for ‘malign’ actions

U.S. imposes wide array of sanctions on Russia for ‘malign’ actions

Posted on April 15, 2021
Minnesota officer who shot Black man after traffic stop charged with manslaughter

Minnesota officer who shot Black man after traffic stop charged with manslaughter

Posted on April 14, 2021
‘Time to end the forever war’: Biden to start U.S. Afghanistan pullout on May 1

‘Time to end the forever war’: Biden to start U.S. Afghanistan pullout on May 1

Posted on April 14, 2021
U.S. calls for pause to J&J COVID-19 vaccine over rare blood clots

U.S. calls for pause to J&J COVID-19 vaccine over rare blood clots

Posted on April 13, 2021
You are here: Home / International / President Obama’s Middle East Speech Gives Arabs, As Well As Israelis, Little To Chew On

President Obama’s Middle East Speech Gives Arabs, As Well As Israelis, Little To Chew On

May 19, 2011 by Shaun Mullen 17 Comments

No matter what President Obama would say today in a widely anticipated speech on the Middle East had to be tempered with certain expectation-lowering realities. Chief among them is that the pro-democracy fever sweeping the Arab world has much to do with Al-Jazeera and social media and little to do with Obama or Bush foreign policies, and that Israel, determined to be on the wrong side of history, will continue to be an obstacle to regional stability.

The speech came in the wake of a flurry of diplomatic activity, including largely symbolic sanctions against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, which has brutally cracked down on protesters, and a $2 billion economic aid package for Egypt, which is feeling its way toward a more democratic society in the wake of President Hosni Mubarak’s ouster in February.

If that were not enough, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives in Washington tomorrow with a plan to restart the peace process that offers a single possible concession — a willingness to negotiate away some of the West Bank territory it illegally occupies. Meanwhile, an Israeli government committee approved the construction of more than 1,500 new settler homes in East Jerusalem just hours before Obama’s address.

That address was ostensibly to Americans as he greases the foreign policy skids for his re-election campaign, it was Muslims around the world who were the most important audience, and he gave them little to chew on beyond debt forgiveness and expanded trade, notably with Egypt and Tunisia, which he cited as models for peaceful change.

Those initiatives are praiseworthy, but the sense of stalemate is palpable in much of the Middle East, which made it even more important that the president delineate a clear overall U.S. policy for the region in the post-Osama bin Laden world — most importantly what he expects Israel and the Palestinians to do to jump start peace talks beyond stating the obvious — that the status quo is not sustainable.

He did state, as I had hoped, that Israel’s pre-1967 borders should be the starting point for negotiations over a Palestinian state, something that the Netanyahu government has fiercely opposed. He did not rap the knuckles of the recalcitrant Palestinian leadership for climbing back into bed with Hamas, which he probably could not do because he knows that unholy alliance is a prerequisite for many Palestinians for statehood. Nor did he call for the ouster of Assad, while making only passing reference to the deepening quagmire in Libya.

There is nothing to show for the administration’s intense early efforts to broker an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord, while George Mitchell, the president’s peace envoy, announced his resignation last week, his legendary patience having run out.

I continue to believe that a key to the long-term success of the Arab Spring rests with the only non-Arab country in the region.

This does not absolve the Palestinians of making nice, but Israel’s reaction of shock and alarm over Mubarak’s ouster was deeply disheartening, although not surprising. After all, no other nation in the region has a peace treaty with Egypt and the Egyptian president had supported Israel’s inhumane Gaza policy.

In fairness to Netanyahu, even if he wanted help speed Palestine statehood as a sop to the U.S. and Israel’s neighbors, which he does not, elements of Israeli society even more hawkish than he is would bring down his government.

I would never equate Netanyahu with Assad. I would defend Israel’s right to exist with my own blood. But it is long past time for the U.S. give Israel a dose of strong medicine. That would have spoken louder regarding the U.S.’s long-term intentions — and that it is foursquare behind the Arab Spring no matter where it may try to blossom — than any speechifying about the joys of democracy.

Click here for a text of the speech. Photograph by Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters

Filed Under: International, Politics, Religion, War

Primary Sidebar

Donate to TMV

The TMV Feed

 Subscribe in a reader

Archives

Categories

The Latest

Most Commented Posts (7 or so days)

Copyright 1998 - 2020 The Moderate Voice. Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in