Barack Obama Disappoints Re Israel/Palestine
I asked someone who would know, Ali Abunimah (of electronic intifada), who lives in Chicago. Abunimah wrote me back:
I used to know Obama when he was my state senator. I met him several times in different contexts, and he was often very progressive about Israel-Palestine. He attended fundraisers in the Palestinian community, one in which the keynote speaker was Edward Said. That's what really made me believe in him at first. But then it all went out the window when he started his climb up the greasy pole. I wrote about this a bit in the book [One Country, an argument for a binational state in all of former Palestine], and how disappointed I was to see him basically adopting AIPAC positions. I went to see his legislative staffer in DC a couple of weeks ago and left a signed copy of the book. I got an email, ostensibly from Obama (I am sure people write these things for him), thanking me. Basically the guy has calculated that pissing off the lobby is not the way to the top, so I will eat my shoe (like Tucker Carlson) if he ever says anything remotely useful about Palestine. He is a master triangulator.
Poppa's got a brand new bag!
I knocked around on the Federal Election Commission database (fec.gov) to understand Obama's tergiversation, looking at his 2004 Senate warchest of $14 million. The impression I got was that Obama had a ton of Jewish givers—as all winning Democrats do—but that they weren't hack givers, they were idealists. They hadn't given to lots of candidates other than Obama; many of the ones I looked at had given only to Obama.
The other pattern I noticed was that Obama givers had sometimes given to Hillary and Chuck Schumer. I got the impression that Hillary and Chuck had really pulled out the stops for Obama in '04, as representing the best of American idealism (who's cryin' now?). None of this is inconsistent with Abunimah's analysis above. It shows (as I said yesterday) that the Israel lobby is not based in a control room, or even Chuck Schumer's office. Concern for Israel pervades the liberal American Jewish success story. That community functions, in politics, as a monolith. And a gateway. At fundraisers at fancy apartments in N.Y.C., a congressional candidate will be asked, Where do you stand on the settlements in the West Bank?
The questioner doesn't need a script, he's feelin' it. The candidate needs to get a script in a hurry. But I'm an optimist; I think the Jewish grassroots are beginning to change.
You're right I know but the left has a habit of eating their own but should they wait till they have grow fatter first? I wonder if creating an equally vital alternative to AIPAC may be more important than simply intellectually discussing what's bad about the ideas/agenda advanced by AIPAC? Speaking of intellectualism, 'tergiversation'? This is the democratic nation that elected Bush 43 twice.
Does anyone have news on the embryo American Jewish peace lobby, conceived as an alternative to the right-wing militant AIPAC? George Soros reportedly sniffing around this one.
Does anyone have news on the embryo American Jewish peace lobby, conceived as an alternative to the right-wing militant AIPAC? George Soros reportedly sniffing around this one.
robert novak had a colum that addressed this recently. it's title said it all "no political advantage in criticizing Israel"
hey, how about that! the jews give actual money to politicians so that they can get elected!
it's called
POLITICS, YOU FERRET-FACED NEO-ORIENTALIST PIECE OF SHIT.
"bi-national state" my schwang. instead, why don't you go buy a czech machine gun and join the fun on the arab "street" (engineered by the zionists, of course).
also: suck me.
hey, how about that! the jews give actual money to politicians so that they can get elected!
it's called
POLITICS, YOU FERRET-FACED NEO-ORIENTALIST PIECE OF SHIT.
"bi-national state" my schwang. instead, why don't you go buy a czech machine gun and join the fun on the arab "street" (engineered by the zionists, of course).
also: suck me.
Obama disappoints because ... well, because Ali Abunimah says so. That, and "a ton of Jewish givers." Where does Obama stand? Who knows? Not Weiss; at least he doesn't trouble himself to find out. Quite some metric, then: Electronic Intifada stamp of (dis)approval and jewmoney. That's something, even for mondo bizarro Philip Weiss.
Poor Phiwip the damned Israelis have fwiends in the Democwatic Pawty. We've alweady twied to make the Democwats pwogwessive by puwging those monowithic Jooo lobbyists fwom the Democwatic Pawty and it isn't easy.
We either need a new anti-joo-lobby party in this cuntwy, maybe a league of antizionists with paleocons, weal leftists and pwogwessives, or we need a kwistallnacht, eh Phiwip? But don't woowy Phiwip, of cowse we won't mob good Joos like you in our Kwistallnacht should we choose to go that woute, onwy the bad Joos.
If there is one Jewish trademark evident throughout history, it is the pose of leading the so called liberation of the oppressed. Israeli pop music nowadays is full of warmed over reggae tunes sung in hebrew and aspiring to the radical chic top spot. The fact that this is all an immemorial deception is well known to those 'leaders of the oppressed' who have been naive enough to accept Jewish 'leadership'.
Jews have experienced quite a turnaround. In 1943 they were the oppressed; now through Israel they oppress another people. Israel is clearly a terrorist nation, and any who support it *should* be fall under homeland security's definition of "supporting terrorism". Of course, rest easily aparteid supporters, for as long as politicians continue in the Bush-2 style, HS will never be doing its stated job.
"At fundraisers at fancy apartments in N.Y.C., a congressional candidate will be asked, Where do you stand on the settlements in the West Bank?"
Phil, What is the most liberal answer that will get substantial money?
What if the candidate said that the occupying Army was legal and could remain, but that the settlments were illegal and were an obstacle to peace and should be emptied?
Ok, I got it now, AIPAC is the root of all that is evil in the world, everywhere. And the electronic intifada is the TRUTH. Also, how does little Phil know what goes on at fundraisers in fancy New York apartments. Or is it possible that Phil Weiss is making stuff up. No, that would be impossible, he wouldn't do that. not little Phil
phil,
we need a new and constructive seed.
you have the israeli cruelty
against the palestinians on
your mind.
admittedly, awful too many
israelis are narrowminded
pigs.
the palestinians were in an
illusion that the arab family
will crush israel.
israel declined and became a solid little state.
it is the unfortunate side-effect that some megalomaniac Muslim leaders can not disconnect from the Koran and from the zion protocol.
pure propaganda slaves.
we need a convincing manifesto
to separate the billions of
decent muslims from the
selfdistructive fascist type
muslims.
phil, let us work on this direction.
merry christmas!
hag sameach!
An Invitation for Barak Obama
January 15th, 2006 | Posted in Journals, Ramallah Region
by Katie
The morning of Thursday, January 12, myself, and other Palestinian and international activists were invited to the branch of Jerusalem University in Ramallah for a conference that Barak Obama, the US senator from Illinois, was holding with students. The others were skeptical about him, but I assured them that he is a very progressive politician and he would be supportive of the Palestinian cause.
Barak Obama began the conference by saying how surprised he was that it was cold and raining in Ramallah, that it went against his preconceived notions about the climate in the Middle East. He spoke about his background and how he was the underdog in his race for the Senate. He explained to us that even though the US has made many foreign policy mistakes, that he believed in our system of checks and balances. He then offered to start a dialog with the audience.
One student asked how Arab governments can create a paradigm shift and improve relations with the US. When he answered the question, I tried not to give in to frustrated laughter because, I kid you not, this is what he said (I am paraphrasing and my comments are in parenthesis):
The Arab governments need to embrace democracy, not theocracy. When you allow the will of God to influence the laws of your country, you will not win the support of the US. (What about Israel claiming they have the God given right to rule this land?) The Arab governments need to renounce violence against civilians. (What about 100,000 dead Iraqis, were all of those people terrorists, Baathists, foreign fighters or were some of them civilians?) The US is opposed to theocracy and terrorism and if the Arab governments want to create a paradigm shift, they need to address these concerns of ours.
So then I asked him, �You say the US is opposed to theocracy and terrorism, how can you explain to the Palestinian people how the US can be opposed to these things but still supports a state that has racist, oppressive, unjust and apartheid policies. And do you see how this paints an inconsistent picture to the people of the Middle East?�
He began his answer by saying he would not accept the assumptions I made and therefor was not going to address that part of my question. He said he could understand the Palestinian view that the policies of the US were one sided but he said the relationship with Israel was not going to change. My high hopes for Barak Obama�s foreign policy ideas were shot down!
Obama said this was his first trip to the Middle East, that he had just come from Qatar and Jordan. I imagine he stayed in some pretty fancy hotels. I�m not sure that if you are a powerful American politician on your first ever trip to the middle east that you can really get a good idea of what things are like here.
So Barak Obama, I would like to send you an invitation. I invite you to consider that maybe your preconceived notions about the weather in the Middle East are not the only notions that were incorrect. Barak Obama, I would like to invite you to stand in line at Qalandia checkpoint, I would like you to witness the humiliation Palestinians face there, I�d like to invite you to take part in a peaceful demonstration like Mohammad Mansour was doing when his friend was shot and killed, or Roni, who was shot in the neck and who is now paralysed from the waist down. I�d like to invite you to acknowledge that there are families on the Palestinian side of the wall who cannot travel 5 minutes away to the next village to see their familes on the Israeli side of the wall. I would invite you to meet Ahmad, a five year old boy I met on the way back from Jenin whose father was killed by Israeli soldiers. I would like you to consider that if a Palestinian wants to leave the country by plane, he or she cannot leave via Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, he or she must travel by land to Jordan and leave via the airport in Amman. This is the Middle East�s only democracy, Mr. Obama! I would invite you to consider how the unconditional support for Israel with US tax dollars affects 4 million Palestinian people who just want to live their lives and be free from oppression.
Bill Pearlman asks: "Also, how does little Phil know what goes on at fundraisers in fancy New York apartments?"
While I have little reason to doubt that Phil knows what he is talking about, I also would like a reference if possible, or more details so that I can evaluate the generality of the support of the US Jewish campaign-funding elite for settlments.
And Bill, this "little Phil", is tiresome and is, of course, an ad-hominem attack, as is the assumption, without visible evidence, that Phil is making it all up.
Robert Hume:
Your not going to believe me but I have been at numerous candidate funda raisers in apartments and homes, both fancy and other wise. And I have never once heard anybody ask about settlements. Security issues sure, Iran, Hamas, the UN, a million other things but not settlements. Second, how would Phil Weiss possibly know what people say at events that are not orientated towards the destruction of Israel. I don't pretend to know what happens at the Hamas fund raisers and I seriously doubt that Phil Weiss has even a passing relationship with what goes on at any aipac or jewish event that doesn't entail groveling and a healthy does of Jewish angst. Has far as the little Phil thing goes, your right, it is geting a little boring and I'm not going to write it again. Call it literary license, small in stature and honor
This guy really takes the biscuit for 'Get Carter' rhetoric. Someone says he is a sociobiologist by trade.
I don't recognize Carter any more. I am afraid of him now, for myself and for my children. He has not just turned his back on the balance and fairness that all peacemaking depends on. He has become a spokesman for the enemies of my people. He has become an apologist for terrorists.
At this holiday season, Jews remember a time when our existence was threatened in our homeland; it is threatened again now. Christians remember the birth of a baby boy long dreamed of, to a Jewish mother who had to flee from terror to protect him. Jewish mothers shrink from terror in the same place today...
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/stories/2006/12/21/1222edkonner.html
@ted:
"4 million Palestinian people who just want to live their lives and be free from oppression"
Is that supposed to be comedy?
Wow, quite a bunch of anti-semitic scum on this website.
I live in massachusetts. the jews in brookline are not being threatened. In fact cambridge and brookline are the wealthiest neighborhoods in all of america. if that's anti semetism then I wish i was jewish
Be serious please. Does anyone really believe that the Palestinian issue has anything to do with violence in the Middle East. Given the risk of nuclear war from that conflict, the rest of the world would buy the Palestinians mansions to make the problem go away if that were the real issue. The issue is just like it is in this country. A lot of religious right wingers in Arab countries are afraid of democracy so they placate their people by preaching religious hatred. That is why you never hear about reparations for all of the Jewish citizens of Arab states who lost their land in 1948 even though there were more of them than there were Palestinians. It's an issue that shouldn't even be seriously discussed.
"The rest of the world would buy the Palestinians mansions to make the problem go away if that were the real issue"
-- really? where?
Rowan:
Personally, I think you should take 22 of them into your house. And take video.
the US should get out of the middle east and that includes israel.
"Does anyone really believe that the Palestinian issue has anything to do with violence in the Middle East."
Posted by: Ted Lawrence | December 25, 2006 2:42 AM
Yes, about the whole world except for the right wing Israeli and US Likudniks!
Stumbled here looking for some truth.
Phil, you've definitely struck a nerve among the New Jew Brownshirts.
When they writhe and contort themselves defending the indefensible the righteous can take hope.
What is this Daniel Pipes esk bullshit. Progressive thinkers who are sympathetic to the palestinian cause are automatically slandered as anti-semetic. Thought the ignorant son of a bitch who would call palestinians anti-semetic only shows himself as hypocritical along with his ignorance. The term anti-semetic means hatred of those from the sumarian region last time i looked at a map the arabs are semetic. So either the author is ignorant of the terminology they use or they are temselves ingoring palestinian semetism which is racist and therefore using racist terminology to slandor another as racist is downright hypocritical. Next there hasnt been a single coherant argument from any pro-israeli on this site other than a few incoherant ramblings about Arab leaders being scared of democracy. Trying to continue with this jewish propaganda slogan of the arabs treat the palestinians as bad as we do. As if being treated poorly by our cowardly neighbors is a justification for te brutish actions of the zionist state. Well in that line of thinking should the jews be angry at the british for turning them around from the shores of palestine during the second world war i mean how could you expect the british to treat those jews any better than their own home countries. If you want to defend the indefencible at least make a better attept to be coherant and somewhat truthful...
I'm saddened because I cannot find a candidate who is not sleeping with AIPAC. How is it that Mr. Obama hasn't seen the light?
1) I'd like him to tell me what benefit has our relationship with Israel been to the American people.
2) Isn't it obvious that the hatred for America around the globe comes from our inablity to release our prejudices from the AIPAC campaign funds?
It just can't be that a progressive and bright candidate cannot see the truth of the matter: Israel is killing America.
... "The truth is that Palestine is no more real than Never-Never Land. The first time the name was used was in 70 A.D. when the Romans committed genocide against the Jews, smashed the Temple and declared the land of Israel would be no more. From then on, the Romans promised, it would be known as Palestine. The name was derived from the Philistines, a Goliathian people conquered by the Jews centuries earlier. It was a way for the Romans to add insult to injury. They also tried to change the name of Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina, but that had even less staying power ... There is no language known as Palestinian. There is no distinct Palestinian culture. There has never been a land known as Palestine governed by Palestinians. Palestinians are Arabs, indistinguishable from Jordanians (another recent invention), Syrians, Lebanese, Iraqis, etc. Keep in mind that the Arabs control 99.9 percent of the Middle East lands. Israel represents one-tenth of 1 percent of the landmass ..."
Oh I see Clifton now your going to blame it on the Romans. If thats the case why not establish a Celtic-Gaulian state in France and Britain and force the Frankish and Anglo-Saxon populations i'm sure that would go over well regardless of where there was a state or not Palestinians have been living there for 2000 years. Futhermore It was the King of Jerusalem who invited Pompey in to quell the rebellion following Queen Alexandria's death and Roman occupation only came after the Roman army had ended the civil war and not been compinsated as promised by the king of Judea. Futhermore while brutal the Roman destruction of Jerusalem was not uncommon in dealing with Terrorist rebellions such as the Sicari revolt in Judea in 70AD.