After his handlers tell him what to say.
Posted on 07/22/2009 5:56:40 AM PDT by SJackson
Israeli leaders say they're bewildered by the Obama administration's "obsession" with West Bank settlement growth. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was recently quoted asking/grumbling, "What do they want from me?" His aides told reporters and American Jewish leaders that Washington's position on settlements is "childish," "stupid" and "delusional" and that the Obama team should "come to its senses."
A settler prays between destroyed structures demolished by IDF troops in the West Bank outpost of Maoz Esther. Photo: AP I don't think that Netanyahu and his aides are genuinely perplexed or mystified by the administration's demand that Israel stop all settlement construction in the West Bank. They know why settlements are an obstruction to earnestly negotiating a peace deal with the Palestinians. They know that settlements are an obstacle to the implementation of a two-state solution and therefore an impediment to America's policy in the region. They also know that Israel is committed to the road map peace plan, which calls for freezing all settlement activity including "natural growth."
What they apparently refuse to understand is that this president, unlike his predecessors in the White House, really means it. He genuinely means it when he says he intends to push vigorously for a comprehensive Middle East peace deal that includes the creation of a Palestinian state. This president means what he says and says what he thinks. President Barack Obama promised Americans to always tell them the truth. He is doing the same with his interlocutors overseas.
ISRAELIS WHO know about my experience with the Democratic Party and with Chicago politics often ask me what Barack Obama is really trying to achieve in the Middle East and why he insists on a settlement freeze. What is really behind it, they ask. I tell my Israeli friends that they don't need my expertise. The answer is simple. There is no hidden agenda. There is no need to guess or read the tea leaves. Obama's public policy is his real policy. What you see is what you get. Straight and simple.
Furthermore, Obama resents the politics of winks-and-nods. He resents the years of saying one thing and doing another that characterized Israel-US relations, particularly with regard to the construction of West Bank settlements. He says it. "Part of being a good friend is being honest," Obama recently told National Public Radio. "And I think there have been times where we are not as honest as we should be about the fact that the current direction, the current trajectory in the region is profoundly negative, not only for Israeli interests but also US interests." Settlements, he said, are a part of that.
In a recent interview with The New York Times's Thomas Friedman, Obama correctly pointed out that "there is a Kabuki dance going on constantly" with regard to Middle East peace efforts. He boldly added: "That is what I would like to see broken down. I am going to be holding up a mirror and saying: 'Here is the situation, and the US is prepared to work with all of you to deal with these problems.'" He then said: "Leaders have to lead, and, hopefully, they will get supported by their people."
OBAMA IS LEADING. He is doing so boldly and transparently, with the kind of credibility and charisma - both domestically and internationally - that many of his predecessors lacked. I believe that if regional and international leaders rise to the challenge and the promise of Obama, they may find in him the one who will finally broker lasting peace between Jews and Arabs.
If Netanyahu and his team seriously consider the president's agenda, they may realize - as well they should - that it constitutes a rare opportunity for ending, once and for all, the Arab-Israel conflict, including the conflict with the Palestinians. Obama clearly stated why a freeze on settlements is imperative. He is seeking meaningful negotiations toward a final resolution of the conflict. For such negotiations to be held in earnest, Israel cannot take measures that prejudge their outcome and should not engage in actions that Palestinians and their Arab brethren throughout the Middle East view as provocative and aggressive.
Obviously, the Palestinians should take steps to show that they are serious about peace negotiations and Arab governments should do their part to support peace efforts, and the president is pushing on these fronts. But what the Arabs do or not do doesn't change what Israel should do.
We at Americans for Peace Now, and our friends at Israel's Peace Now movement, believe that for the sake of its security, stability and long-term well-being, Israel should immediately reverse the settlement enterprise. And now, particularly now, instead of seeking "shticks and tricks" to evade a settlement freeze - in the words of New York Congressman Gary Ackerman, a staunch friend of Israel - Netanyahu should do whatever it takes to take advantage of the opportunity that Obama proposes.
As we see it, no Israeli leader can afford to turn his or her back at such an opportunity. Generations of Israelis will demand explanations from leaders who missed opportunities for peace because they insisted, instead, on entrenching the devastating occupation of the West Bank.
The writer, formerly chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, is the president and CEO of Americans for Peace Now. This article originally appeared in bitterlemons-international.org.
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That's one big cup of Kool Aid.
WT F'ing F?
Cheers!
Obama is a liar. Even for a politician, he’s a liar of note. Obama will contradict himself, and act as if it’s his first and only comment on the subject.
Where’s the barf alert?
Ci-cago leadership = corruption and lies in everything. What you get is what you are willing to pay kickbacks and bribes for. This woman is a loon.
..YEAH! *wiping feet*
I cant believe Hussein is smart enough, or cares enough, to know this is no way to enter a real negotiation. He is such a sh%tbag
Farrakhan called Obama the Messiah. Farrakhan hates Jews. Maybe he thinks Obama is a Messiah that will deliver the Muslims from the Jews. Maybe Obama thinks so too.
“Maybe Obama thinks so too.”
Very likely. If not, why would he even joke about “not being born in a manger?” The guy is unbelievably arrogant.
Forgive me if I don’t believe this guy when he says that Obama says what he means and means what he says. Obama comes from that neo-anti-semetic school of left wing academic thought. In Obama’s world the Palistinians are the truly grieved party and every one of their outrages can be forgiven them. Meanwhile the Joooooos have to adhere to some mythical, always changing standard or be labled “Nazis”.
“I know that I speak for most American Jews when I wholeheartedly embrace President Obama’s clear position on settlements,” DeLee added.
http://www.peacenow.org/updates.asp?rid=0&cid=6417
“A settler prays between destroyed structures demolished by IDF troops in the West Bank outpost of Maoz Esther. Photo: AP I don’t think that Netanyahu and his aides are genuinely perplexed or mystified by the administration’s demand that Israel stop all settlement construction in the West Bank. They know why settlements are an obstruction to earnestly negotiating a peace deal with the Palestinians. They know that settlements are an obstacle to the implementation of a two-state solution and therefore an impediment to America’s policy in the region. They also know that Israel is committed to the road map peace plan, which calls for freezing all settlement activity including “natural growth.”
Except it doesn’t.
....
This president means what he says and says what he thinks. ....”
He’s Horton the Elephant? Barf. Barf. Barf. Help me. I still haven’t lost all my cookies. Barrrrrrrrrrf!
Where is all this “devastation” she describes? I’m right here in the “West Bank,” and I just went through several Arab villages on my way to and from Gush Etzion to take care of some business. I see more villages out my window in Remat Mamre. Some of their vegetable patches are growing unevenly, but the vineyards and olive groves seem to be doing good. What on earth is she talking about? The only “devastation” I see is that they’re POd that there are Jews back in the places where they had previously annihilated them. Too bad. We’re here. We’re Hebes. Get used to us.
After his handlers tell him what to say.
Pres. Obama is not up to the task in domestic or foreign affairs at all...when you’ve been elected as a fraud you are what you are?????
WHOOPS he made a typo -
It Reads:
As we see it, no Israeli leader can afford to turn his or her back at such an opportunity
Corrected
As we see it, no Israeli leader can afford to turn his or her back on Obama
Jerusalem has always been part of Israel hasn’t it? Or is the war of 64 so long ago I don’t remember. I thought most of the settlements came into being after the war.
The writer, formerly chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, is the president and CEO of Americans for Peace Now. This article originally appeared in bitterlemons-international.org.IOW, it's garbage -- although it is true that Obama (now) says what he thinks, and that is, he hates the Jews, hates Israel, and wholeheartedly supports all Moslem whims, demands, and commands. That's why he bowed to his master, the Saudi king.
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