Why did Barack Obama have to go the Holocaust Museum in Washington to criticise an Arab government, Syria’s, much as the country’s long-serving leadership is the target of international and Arab criticism for its brutal policies?
Is it reasonable to believe that he did not have any other option in America’s spacious capital city which has several university campuses, institutions and government halls than the controversial museum which raised eyebrows when it was founded, since the US and American citizens had no role in the dastardly act of the Nazis?
The likely answer is that he wanted to win over the influential and monied Jewish community, which plays a major role in American politics through financial contributions to the two political parties now engaged in a seemingly tight presidential election.
Here is what Obama told his audience, which included the Israeli ambassador to the US, Michael Oren, who received a nod from the American president.
He began: “‘Never again’ is a challenge to defend the fundamental right of free people and free nations to exist in peace and security — and that includes the state of Israel. And on my visit to the old Warsaw ghetto, a woman looked me in the eye, and she wanted to make sure America stood with Israel. She said, ‘it’s the only Jewish state we have.’ And I made her a promise in that solemn place. I said I will always be there for Israel.
“So when efforts are made to equate Zionism to racism, we reject them. When international fora single out Israel with unfair resolutions, we vote against them. When attempts are made to delegitimise the state of Israel, we oppose them. When faced with a regime that threatens global security and denies the holocaust and threatens to destroy Israel, the United States will do everything in our power to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.”
He then focused on Iran and Syria, forgetting in this respect that Syria had the quietest armistice line with Israel and had repeatedly attempted to negotiate a peaceful settlement with the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, to no avail. Israel appears determined to keep the strategic Golan Heights.
The point Obama failed to underline was the appropriateness of focusing on the Palestinians and their quest for independence and security, so far denied by the Israelis.
Obama’s insensitive remarks came on the heels of the popular CBS “60 Minutes” programme which highlighted the plight of Palestinian Christians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57417408/christians-of-the-holy-la... [2].)
The well-produced programme, authored by highly respected CBS correspondent Bob Simon, received lots of attention, in good part because of the inelegance and arrogance of Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren. The ambassador’s miscalculation was revealed in the live programme when he was questioned about his abhorrent behind-the-scene attempt to twist the arms of Jeff Fager, the CBS news editor, while the programme was still being prepared. He apparently was afraid that the programme was “a hatchet job” against Israel.
The Israeli ambassador sought to blame the dwindling Christian community in the West Bank on Islamic extremism, but when Palestinian Christians were interviewed about the subject, they all started laughing.
“Not surprisingly,” a reporter commented, “Oren calls Israel’s Christian critics anti-Semites.”
Robert Wright, a senior editor of The Atlantic, found the programme “legitimate and balanced”.
Mitri Raheb, a Palestinian Lutheran minister, told CBS: “If you see what’s happening in the West Bank, you will find that the West Bank is becoming more and more like a piece of Swiss cheese where Israel gets that cheese that is the land, the water resources, the archaeological sites, and the Palestinians are pushed in the holes behind the walls.”
There are several prominent issues Obama could have raised at the Holocaust Museum.
For example, Israel’s decision to leave the UN Human Rights Council which was authorised to probe the “implications” of Israeli settlements for the Palestinians, or the eviction of a Palestinian family from occupied Arab East Jerusalem, in the neighbourhood of Beit Hanina, and allowing Israelis to settle there — a step that was condemned by the European Union this week. So far, 67 other Palestinians have been forcibly displaced in the same region.
What has been equally alarming is a report from the US Congressional Research Service which revealed that the US military has stockpiled in Israel $800 million worth of weapons for emergencies, and the amount may grow by 50 per cent.
A report in Israeli Defence also revealed that the United States gave approval, during the second Lebanon war in 2006, for the Israel army to use some of the weapons.
All this — and more — makes one wonder whether Obama can be expected to do more to bring peace to the Middle East if he gets a second term at the White House.
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