March 3, 2007

 As expected, Presidential candidate Senator Obama, did not tell the powerful Israeli lobby what it did not want to hear. As you can read from the transcript (on our website), the Senator assured the audience that as a President , he will not be a honest broker between Israel and the Palestinians, but will side with Israel. Critical of the current president nonetheless, Obama took a middle road between Bush's deliberate reluctance to play a central diplomatic role and the other, putting pressure on Israel. As expected, Obama offered not a single word of criticism of Israel, of its relentless settlement and wall construction, of the closures that make life unlivable for millions of Palestinians.

Woven throughout the speech were subtle signs of appreciation for Israel from someone who a little more than two years ago was a state senator from Illinois.

Following his predecessors queue, those seeking AIPAC's blessings, Obama  began his speech by describing an experience the pro-Israel lobby wishes on every aspirant for public office: a flight over Israel.

“The helicopter took us over the most troubled and dangerous areas and that narrow strip between the West Bank and the Mediterranean Sea,” he said of his first visit to Israel in January 2006. “At that height I could see the hills and the terrain that generations have walked across. I could truly see how close everything is and why peace through security is the only way for Israel.”

But Obama's eyes were oblivious to what Israel has done to the Palestinians people, their homes, their schools, their farms. Obama, I am certain wasn't  told when he (perhaps) flew over the settlement of Metta, that it was once a little Arab village named Allar where my parents once lived but forced to flee in 1948. I am certain Obama's Israeli travel guides, did not point to him that the Apartheid wall  being built on Arab lands actually separates Arabs from other Arabs rending thousands in a no-man's- land with minimum access to the outside worlds let alone their farms, schools and other areas of the West Bank.
Obama is not new to the Palestinian  American community in Chicago. He attended a 1998  large gathering where the keynote speaker was the late Edward Said.  While some will resign themselves to the conclusion that  Obama is merely doing what he thinks is necessary to get elected, they must also admit that he will continue doing it as long as it keeps him in power or as long as he persists in believing that the way to his victory speeches must also pass through AIPAC speech writers. One sign it’s working: Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.), one of the most prominent Jewish congressmen, announced this week that he will chair Obama’s Florida campaign, citing the senator's position on Israel as a reason. “I have spoken with Barrack to discuss the dangers facing our ally Israel, and I am convinced there will be no stronger supporter of Israel than President Obama,” Wexler said in a statement. Read Obama's speech before your send in your campaign contribution!  

Related article: Jewish views of Obama