| Submit your comments on this article |
| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Obama's silence is damaging |
| 2009-01-04 |
| Barack Obama's chances of making a fresh start in US relations with the Muslim world, and the Middle East in particular, appear to diminish with each new wave of Israeli attacks on Palestinian targets in Gaza. That seems hardly fair, given the president-elect does not take office until January 20. But foreign wars don't wait for Washington inaugurations. Obama has remained wholly silent during the Gaza crisis. His aides say he is following established protocol that the US has only one president at a time. Hillary Clinton, his designated secretary of state, and Joe Biden, the vice-president-elect and foreign policy expert, have also been uncharacteristically taciturn on the subject. But evidence is mounting that Obama is already losing ground among key Arab and Muslim audiences that cannot understand why, given his promise of change, he has not spoken out. Arab commentators and editorialists say there is growing disappointment at Obama's detachment - and that his failure to distance himself from George Bush's strongly pro-Israeli stance is encouraging the belief that he either shares Bush's bias or simply does not care. The Al-Jazeera satellite television station recently broadcast footage of Obama on holiday in Hawaii, wearing shorts and playing golf, juxtaposed with scenes of bloodshed and mayhem in Gaza. Its report criticising "the deafening silence from the Obama team" suggested Obama is losing a battle of perceptions among Muslims that he may not realise has even begun. "People recall his campaign slogan of change and hoped that it would apply to the Palestinian situation," Jordanian analyst Labib Kamhawi told Liz Sly of the Chicago Tribune. "So they look at his silence as a negative sign. They think he is condoning what happened in Gaza because he's not expressing any opinion." Regional critics claim Obama is happy to break his pre-inauguration "no comment" rule on international issues when it suits him. They note his swift condemnation of November's terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Obama has also made frequent policy statements on mitigating the impact of the global credit crunch. Obama's absence from the fray is also allowing hostile voices to exploit the vacuum. "It would appear that the president-elect has no intention of getting involved in the Gaza crisis," Iran's Resalat newspaper commented sourly. "His stances and viewpoints suggest he will follow the path taken by previous American presidents... Obama, too, will pursue policies that support the Zionist aggressions." Whether Obama, when he does eventually engage, can successfully elucidate an Israel-Palestine policy that is substantively different from that of Bush-Cheney is wholly uncertain at present. To maintain the hardline US posture of placing the blame for all current troubles squarely on Hamas, to the extent of repeatedly blocking limited UN security council ceasefire moves, would be to end all realistic hopes of winning back Arab opinion - and could have negative, knock-on consequences for US interests in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Gulf. Yet if Obama were to take a tougher (some would say more balanced) line with Israel, for example by demanding a permanent end to its blockade of Gaza, or by opening a path to talks with Hamas, he risks provoking a rightwing backlash in Israel, giving encouragement to Israel's enemies, and losing support at home for little political advantage. A recent Pew Research Centre survey, for example, showed how different are US perspectives to those of Europe and the Middle East. Americans placed "finding a solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict" at the bottom of a 12-issue list of foreign policy concerns, the poll found. And foreign policy is in any case of scant consequence to a large majority of US voters primarily worried about the economy, jobs and savings. On the campaign trail, Obama (like Clinton) was broadly supportive of Israel and specifically condemnatory of Hamas. But at the same time, he held out the prospect of radical change in western relations with Muslims everywhere, promising to make a definitive policy speech in a "major Islamic forum" within 100 days of taking office. "I will make clear that we are not at war with Islam, that we will stand with those who are willing to stand up for their future, and that we need their effort to defeat the prophets of hate and violence," he said. As the Gaza casualty headcount goes up and Obama keeps his head down, those sentiments are beginning to sound a little hollow. The danger is that when he finally peers over the parapet on January 21, the battle of perceptions may already be half-lost. |
| Posted by:john frum |
| #19 "It may be more that he has nothing profound to say." That's never stopped Bambi before, WL. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2009-01-04 22:46 |
| #18 The topic is too hot. Sign of a true professional politician. |
| Posted by: Mike N. 2009-01-04 22:24 |
| #17 RC - He's opened his mouth plenty on the economy and other issues when it suited his or his party's interests. He's not being so professional after all. It may be more that he has nothing profound to say. |
| Posted by: Whavitle Lumplump9257 2009-01-04 22:20 |
| #16 uh , he's not in power yet.... why ope your mouth when its not your turn, sign of a true professional |
| Posted by: reality cheque 2009-01-04 22:13 |
| #15 Agreed, lotp. Although I got a cluster of overexcited emails when the appointment was announced, from various Jewish Democrat friends, all saying, "See -- he isn't an antisemitic Muslim after all, contrary to what those right wing nuts have been saying!!!!!" Only one properly appreciated my response referencing Secretary of State Kissinger and the 1973 war. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2009-01-04 18:22 |
| #14 Rahm Emanuel was chosen for his ability to help keep Congress in line and because he supports Obama's real priorities: completely revamping our economic system to the left. That he is Jewish is irrelevant to Obama's choice of him, so far as I can tell. |
| Posted by: lotp 2009-01-04 17:50 |
| #13 Sometimes saying nothing is better than saying something stupid. |
| Posted by: Grolush Darling of the Hatfields3195 2009-01-04 17:27 |
| #12 Well said, Nimble Spemble. At minimum, that he does the things necessary to get reelected, one of which is not abandoning Israel, as well more than half of the voters would be very upset by that. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2009-01-04 17:12 |
| #11 the One turns out to be a self serving Centrist who wants only to be the first Black president for two terms; no matter whose a$$ he has to kiss. Another way to look at this is that he tries to be the best President possible for all Americans. And that's what I pray he'll do. And disappoint a lot more than foreigners in the process. Remember, he may be the first "black" President but when he looks in the mirror he knows, no matter how many lighty Wright sermons he's listened to, that he's half black, half white, raised by a white woman who wasn't his mother and didn't owe him a rearing any more than his black granny. I suspect his thoughts, his true thoughts that he doesn't share with anyone else, on race are as interesting as Bill Clinton's on paternity. He wasn't my choice and I doubt I'll like much of what he does, but in a certain way, though I doubt it will happen, I hope he does well enough to be re-elected by the whole nation. We're going to need a President that good for the next four years, and I hope he's the only one we get. Because the alternative's Biden and he's surely an idiot. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2009-01-04 16:59 |
| #10 Get used to this imperial attitude of simply saying nothing about that which The Anointed does not wish to speak. We are lesser beings, and do not deserve (and would not be able to understand) the workings of His mind. It is best if we wait outside and cheer any announcements that may be made on our behalf. |
| Posted by: gromky 2009-01-04 16:58 |
| #9 Far be it from me to think or suggest that Obama is thr right guy at the right time...however...with regard to Israel... Let us not forget tht Obama has placed a great deal of responsiblitiy on Rahm Emamuel. I don;'t recall reading anything to suggest Rahm is a self-hating Jew. In this country that means you don't make common cause with those who want to see Israel wiped off the map. Perhaps Obama's "silence" is calculated to appease his right hand man, someone who holds no love or brief for Hamas. I don't know. It is confusing. We'll see soon enough. |
| Posted by: MarkZ 2009-01-04 16:41 |
| #8 There was a lot of expectation throughout the world that Obama would be their man in the White House. If those expectations fade before he is sworn in, a lot of stupid activity will not occur afterward. Go, Israel, go! |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2009-01-04 13:58 |
| #7 Arab and Muslim audiences... The Al-Jazeera satellite television station... Jordanian analyst... Silly me, I thought voting was limited to US citizens and he is the US president-elect. |
| Posted by: Darrell 2009-01-04 13:20 |
| #6 But evidence is mounting that Obama is already losing ground among key Arab and Muslim and progressive and African-American and union and GLBT and Hispanic and anti-war protestor audiences that cannot understand why, given his promise of change, he has not spoken out. Setting high expectations can be a b**ch. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2009-01-04 13:07 |
| #5 One of my New Years' wishes/dreams...the One turns out to be a self serving Centrist who wants only to be the first Black president for two terms; no matter whose a$$ he has to kiss. Sarcasm is now off :-) |
| Posted by: WolfDog 2009-01-04 12:52 |
| #4 Probably went to a bar or coffee shop, some guy knows he writes articles and went to impress simple Simon, who wants to impress that guy back by quoting him, as "Anonymous person seeking single white writer", shorthanded as "People". |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2009-01-04 12:05 |
| #3 Yet if Obama were to take a tougher (some would say more balanced) line with Israel, for example by demanding a permanent end to its blockade of Gaza, or by opening a path to talks with Hamas... So...Simon: what is the 'balanced' line between Hamas, who's charter calls for the destruction of the state of Israel and genocide against the Jews and Israel who is exercising its right of self-defense? |
| Posted by: Flusomble the Wide5751 2009-01-04 11:50 |
| #2 Flash! The number one Google, classified ads and E-bay searches by Obama: "Time machine". |
| Posted by: Hammerhead 2009-01-04 11:47 |
| #1 OBama keeps saying that there is "one president and one voice" and he shouldn't comment on the Gaza matter is inconsistent with he his numerous comments relative to the economy and health care. |
| Posted by: Hammerhead 2009-01-04 11:38 |