http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1107603.html
Obama's America is not delivering the goods
The minute Jerusalem detected a lack of American determination, it returned
to its evil ways and excuses.
By Gideon Levy, Haaretz Correspondent
Haaretz: 14/08/09
With great sorrow and deep consternation, we hereby declare the death of the
latest hope. Perhaps rumors of its death are greatly exaggerated, to
paraphrase the famous quote by Mark Twain, but the fears are being validated
day after day. Barack Obama's America is not delivering the goods. Sharing a
glass of beer with a racist cop and a pat on the back of Hugo Chavez are not
what we hoped for; wholesale negotiations on freezing settlement
construction are also not what we expected. Just over six months after the
most promising president of all began his term, perhaps hope has a last
breath left, but it is on its deathbed.
He came into office amid much hoopla. The Cairo speech ignited half the
globe. Making settlements the top priority gave rise to the hope that,
finally, a statesman is sitting in the White House who understands that the
root of all evil is the occupation, and that the root of the occupation's
evil is the settlements. From Cairo, it seemed possible to take off. The sky
was the limit.
Then the administration fell into the trap set by Israel and is showing no
signs of recovery.
A settlement freeze, something that should have been understood by a prime
minister who speaks with such bluster about two states - a peripheral matter
that Israel committed to in the road map - has suddenly turned into a
central issue. Special envoy George Mitchell is wasting his time and
prestige with petty haggling. A half-year freeze or a full year? What about
the 2,500 apartment units already under construction? And what about natural
growth? And kindergartens?
Perhaps they will reach a compromise and agree on nine months, not including
natural growth though allowing completion of apartments already under
construction. A grand accomplishment.
Jerusalem has imposed its will on Washington. Once again we are at the
starting point - dealing with trifles from which it is impossible to make
the big leap over the great divide.
We expected more from Obama. Menachem Begin promised less, and he made peace
within the same amount of time after he took office. When the main issue is
dismantling the settlements, the pulsating momentum that came with Obama is
petering out. Instead, we are paddling in shallow water. Mitchell
Schmitchel. What's in it for peace? Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will
once again meet him in London at the end of the month. A "magic formula" for
a settlement freeze may be found there, but the momentum is gone.
Not in Israel, though. Here people quickly sensed that there is nothing to
fear from Obama, and the fetters were taken off. Defense Minister Ehud Barak
was quick to declare that there is no Palestinian partner, even after the
Fatah conference elected the most moderate leadership that has ever been
assembled in Palestine. Afterward, in a blatant act of provocation, he
brought a Torah scroll into the heart of the Muslim Quarter in the Old City
of Jerusalem, in full view of television cameras, just so America can see
who's boss around here.
Deputy Prime Minister Eli Yishai and Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, another
two politicians who smell American weakness, were quick to declare during a
visit to Ma'aleh Adumim that Israel will not freeze any construction. To
hell with Obama. The settlers continue to move into more homes in East
Jerusalem, Netanyahu is silent and Israelis sense that the "danger" has
passed. Israel is once again permitted to do as it pleases. The landlord has
once again gone insane. Except that the landlord has gone insane because the
real landlord is showing signs of weakness, signs of folding, signs of
losing interest in events in the region that most endangers world peace.
Nothing remains from the speeches in Cairo and Bar-Ilan University. Obama is
silent, and Yishai speaks. Even "Israel's friends" in Washington, friends of
the occupation, are once again rearing their heads.
One source familiar with Obama's inner circle likened him this week to a man
who inflates a number of balloons every day in the hope that one of them
will rise. He will reach his goal. The source compared him to Shimon Peres,
an analogy that should insult Obama. The trial balloons the U.S. president
sends our way have yet to take off. One can, of course, wait for the next
balloon, the Obama peace plan, but time is running out. And Israel is not
sitting idly by.
The minute Jerusalem detected a lack of American determination, it returned
to its evil ways and excuses. "There is no partner," "Abu Mazen is weak,"
"Hamas is strong." And there are demands to recognize a Jewish state and for
the right to fly over Saudi Arabia - anything in order to do nothing.
An America that will not pressure Israel is an America that will not bring
peace. True, one cannot expect the U.S. president to want to make peace more
than the Palestinians and Israelis, but he is the world's responsible adult,
its great hope. Those of us who are here, Mr. President, are sinking in the
wretched mud, in "injury time."
***
http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/39564/71-senators-sign-aipac-backed-letter/
The Jewish News Weekly of Northern California
JWeekly: August 13, 2009
71 senators sign AIPAC-backed letter
Seventy-one senators signed an AIPAC-backed letter to President Barack Obama
supporting his effort to encourage Arab states to normalize relations with
Israel.
The letter, circulated by Sens. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) and James Risch
(R-Idaho), was signed by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) but not by Sen. Diane
Feinstein (D-Calif.).
The letter notes recent measures taken by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu to advance the peace process, and urges Arab leaders to take
similar steps to demonstrate their commitment to Mideast peace.
Americans for Peace Now and other left Jewish groups, including J Street
and Brit Tzedek v'Shalom, had urged senators not to sign the letter unless
the language was amended to include mention of steps that all parties in
the Middle East need to take toward peace — especially Israel's need to
stop settlement construction.
Besides Boxer, the letter was signed by only five of the 13 other Jewish
senators — Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Charles Schumer
(D-N.Y.), Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). — jta
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