Obama’s Oratory Skills and Peace in the
Middle East
By: Jamal Kanj*
May 22, 2011
I used to get annoyed when media pundits
described Obama speeches as excellent on rhetoric, but not much substance.
Sadly on May 19, 2011, president Obama’s speech on the Middle East validated those
misgivings.
While the President may be genuine,
he has proven powerless in the face of Israel’s lobby and the influence of
money donors on elected US officials.
Since his now infamous speech in Cairo, he has barefacedly backed off on
his blue print vision for peace in the Middle East.
In the meantime, Israel has made a mockery
of the US President by responding to every US peace proposal with building more illegal
settlements, and preempting US official visits to the region with new illegal expansion
projects in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. In fact, US efforts to push the
peace process forwards have become an omen of more Israeli land grab and
illegal settlements in the area designated for the future of the Palestinian
state.
Case and point, on the same day
Obama delivered his Middle East policy speech, Israel authorized new illegal Jewish
only housing units in East Jerusalem. According to Israeli ministry official
"The authorization of plans today [May 19] for more than 1,500 units
constitutes a clear message of Israel to the entire world,'' declared Yair
Gabbai of the Israeli Interior Ministry planning to the Israel Radio; just as
Israel has done a year ago, ahead of US Vice President’s visit to Jerusalem.
Yet before suggesting the 1967
borders as the basis of the new Palestinian state, president Obama repeated the
same expired but already fulfilled demand of the Palestinians: “And Palestinians will never realize their
independence by denying the right of Israel to exist.”
Any greenhorn observer of the Middle
East politics will know that this trying one-sided recognition was settled times
and again on many occasions since the signing of the Oslo agreement between
Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). It was witnessed and presided over by an
American president on the White House Lawn in September 1993 when the Oslo
understanding was endorsed by the PLO and the Israeli Labor led government of
the late Rabin.
Five years later, the new Israeli Likud
government headed by non-other Benjamin Netanyahu, claimed that the PLO
recognition of Israel was not sufficient. Netanyahu then demanded that Palestinians
must also annul their national charter calling for democratic non sectarian state.
To appease the new Israeli
government and its “amen corner,” in Washington, the American administration once
more supported the Israeli demand. Again and without any reciprocal commitment
from Israel, the PLO acquiesced and called a special meeting for the Palestine
National Council in Gaza in December 1998 to annul the Palestinian Charter in
the presence of US President, Clinton.
Obama, like all Western politicians
today, treads with great care any plan not cleared or even drafted by the
Israeli government. Hence before addressing Israel’s obligations under
international law, Western officials [Obama in this case] preamble peace proposals
with superfluous demands for Palestinians while showering it with incentive largess
to placate Israel and its powerful lobby.
In his latest speech, it was puzzling
to hear Obama asserting that America’s friendship with Israel was “rooted
deeply in a shared history and shared values.” Uncertain what values the
president referring to, was it the race based politics, or was it stealing land
from Natives? Such values have long been moribund in America, but still
practiced in Israel.
Next week, American President is
scheduled to speak for the first time since becoming a president before the American
Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC,) the most powerful foreign lobby in
America. The president is likely to water down his recent proposal in light of
Israeli prime minister’s rejection, and then ask more of the Palestinians while
accentuating his calls for recognizing Israel as “a Jewish state;” a program to
institutionalize the politics of bigotry against more that 20 per cent of the
Muslim and Christian natives, while denying the right of return to non Jews who
were made homeless since 1948.
Withal, more oratory promises to
Palestinians as they watch their land disappearing before their eyes at the
hand of an insatiable Israeli monster financed by billions of American tax
payers’ money to build “Jewish only” settlements on the remaining 22 per cent
of historical Palestine.
*Jamal Kanj writes frequently
on Arab World issues and the author of “Children of Catastrophe, Journey from a Palestinian Refugee Camp
to America”, Garnet Publishing, UK. Jamal’s articles
can be read at www.jamalkanj.com, his email address
is jkanj@yahoo.com