OBAMA AND THE MIDDLE EAST / TIME FOR TOUGH LOVE WITH ISRAEL
Obama will be making a speech in the Middle East during his first 100 days in office but its intent will be clear ~ the Palestinian issue must be resolved, the current deep injustices must be delt with and Israel must pull back to its 1967 borders with some modifications. It's time for tough love with Israel and, as a result, the United States will regain its position as an honest broker in the Middle East: Allen L Roland
The handwriting is on the wall for Israel ~ the Bush Doctrine of preemptive war and illegal occupation will soon be history and Obama will carry his own mandate for change to the Middle East ~ and its first target will be the resolution of the Palestinian issue.
Why? Because that one issue is the fodder for the fire of Anti -American feeling that permeates the Middle East and accounts for the deep mistrust of our intentions and policies in the region.
Right now, Gaza is a modern-day attack on human rights, and some would go as far as labeling it as ethnic cleansing.
Our friends in the region, such as Jordan, are already strongly speaking out against 'aggression' against Palestinian civilians by illegal Zionist settlers in the West Bank city of al-Khalil; "The Jordanian government strongly denounces the acts of aggression carried out by settlers on Palestinian civilians and believe such attacks have dangerous repercussions on the peace process," Foreign Minister Salah Bashir said in a statement carried by the official Petra news agency on Saturday. http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=77714&;sectionid=351020206
Make no mistake about it, The Middle East cannot accept our uncritical support of Israel’s 60-year theft of Palestinian lands, Israel’s destruction of over 18,000 Palestinian homes and over a million fruit and olive trees in illegally occupied Palestine. When we add Israel’s brutal oppression and vastly unjust violence against Palestinians using American weaponry, and our 41 UN vetoes blocking sanctions against Israel for their multiple, relentless violations of international law ~ it becomes apparent that this issue must be addressed soon and Obama must exercise tough love with Israel.
Two respected Senior icons of foreign policy, Brent Scowcroft and Zbigniew Brzezinski recently offered their advice to the President-Elect in a high profile column in the Washington Post. They strongly advised: “The Arab-Israeli peace process is one issue that requires priority attention.” Interestingly enough, this wise advice to Obama came two months after a revealing statement made by Israeli President Shimon Peres to the United Nations where he called for a new era of peace negotiations predicated on the Arab Peace Initiative.
Steve Weissman, t r u t h o u t Perspective, takes it from there with his take on Obama's upcoming speech and what he will offer ~
" So, if he goes ahead with the speech, what will he offer to push ahead the process of peace in the Middle East?
My best guess is that he will follow the lead of two foreign policy elders who have advised him throughout the campaign and since - Brent Scowcroft and Zbigniew Brzezinski, national security advisers to the first President Bush and President Jimmy Carter. The two men offered their advice publicly in the November 21 Washington Post in an op-ed piece they called "Middle East Priorities for January 21."
Warning that a loss of hope in the region could lead to increased violence, they saw the resolution of the Palestinian issue as a way to remove a "deep sense of injustice" that is "genuine and pervasive." Resolving the issue, they argued "would liberate Arab governments to support U.S. leadership in dealing with regional problems, as they did before the Iraq invasion. It would dissipate much of the appeal of Hezbollah and Hamas, dependent as it is on the Palestinian's plight. It would change the region's psychological climate, putting Iran back on the defensive and putting a stop to its swagger."
As the two men argued their case, the new element would be for Obama to announce American backing for four basic elements of peace. The first, and most important, would be "1967 borders, with minor, reciprocal and agreed-upon modifications." The other three elements would be "compensation in lieu of the right of return for Palestinian refugees; Jerusalem as real home to two capitals; and a nonmilitarized Palestinian state." Scowcroft and Brzezinski also suggested deploying NATO troops to serve as peacekeepers and to train the "nonmilitarized" Palestinian troops. I can quibble with the four points, as will Israelis and Palestinians. But what a wonderful step ahead it would be for the new president of the United States to put himself solidly behind a serious effort for peace. " http://www.truthout.org/120808R
This will be Obama's first foreign policy test and my guess is he will seize this moment and both Israel and the Middle East will heave a welcomed sigh of relief ~ that is, unless Israel elects to preemptively attack Iran before January 20th and the Middle East erupts in chaos.
Allen L Roland http://blogs.salon.com/0002255/2008/12/09.html
Freelance Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations ( allen@allenroland.com )
Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK
