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Hands of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama are seen as he speaks to media in Washington. (Reuters Photo) |
President-elect Barack Obama ran an intricate campaign built on the promise of change. He asked Americans time and time again if they wanted change or more of the same.
The “Change” slogan is nothing new for non-incumbent politicians, who can only get elected if change happens, but Obama’s message resonated with the American public perhaps more than ever before.
Many American Muslims bought into the idea. According to a recent survey, more than 89 percent of Muslims voted for Obama. Not surprising, with Bush in the White House for eight years.
| It took Obama 11 days and more than 600 Palestinian deaths to call the situation "a source of deep concern" |
While some advocates of Palestine are hopeful that Obama will make a difference, others are not so sure. They say Obama’s visit to Israel in July 2008, during the presidential campaign, was troubling .
Even more troubling, they say, are Obama’s statements.
“If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I’m going to do everything in my power to stop that,” Obama said during his visit to the Jewish state.
Statements like these have already been used by Israel to justify the ongoing massacre in Gaza. Ehud Barak, Israel’s defense minister, quoted Barack Obama at the Knesset after the Gaza war began. “Obama said that if rockets were being fired at his home while his two daughters were sleeping, he would do everything he could to prevent it,” Barak said.
“Those who threaten Israel threaten us. Israel has always faced these threats on the front lines. And I will bring to the White House an unshakeable commitment to Israel’s security…I will ensure that Israel can defend itself from any threat - from Gaza to Tehran,” Obama said during a speech in 2008 at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) policy conference. AIPAC is self-described as “America’s Pro-Israel Lobby.”
Haaretz’s Chief U.S. Correspondent, Shmuel Rosner, analyzed Barack Obama’s statements and concluded that Obama “sounded as strong as Clinton, as supportive as Bush, as friendly as Giuliani. At least rhetorically, Obama passed any test anyone might have wanted him to pass. So, he is pro-Israel. Period.”
Some say that Obama had to praise Israel in order to capture the Jewish American vote, but Obama’s post-election measures are no different.
His choices of Rahm Emanuel for Chief of Staff and Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State reflect his stance on the Middle East conflict.
| How about the killing of more than 100 Palestinian children? |
Emanuel is the son of a member of the Irgun, a militant Zionist group that operated in Palestine between 1931 and 1948. He is a fierce supporter of Israel.
Hillary Clinton is not only a supporter of Israel, but she also condones the building of the “security fence.”
“I’ve spoken out strongly against the International Court of Justice for questioning Israel’s right to self defense which includes building the security fence,” she said at an Israel Bonds function in September 2008.
During the ongoing Gaza massacre, it took Obama 11 days and more than 600 Palestinian deaths to call the situation “a source of deep concern.”
But the president-elect was quick to condemn the Mumbai attacks, releasing a statement on the first day of that terrorist attack.
“President-Elect Obama strongly condemns today's terrorist attacks in Mumbai, and his thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families, and the people of India,” the statement read. “These coordinated attacks on innocent civilians demonstrate the grave and urgent threat of terrorism.”
How about Israel’s terrorism on Gaza, the killing of more than 100 Palestinian children and the bombing of clearly-marked UN schools? Shouldn’t that at least be condemned by the upcoming “leader of the free world”?
While Obama will most likely bring about change on the domestic front, when it comes to Palestine, it’s clear that Obama’s policies are “more of the same.”
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