Found this among my papers. It's from a January 2006 International Solidarity Movement (ISM) bulletin & speaks for itself. I've quoted it only in part:-
"An Invitation for Barak Obama, January 15th 2006 by Katie
"The morning of Thursday, January 12, myself, and other Palestinian and international activists were invited to the Ramallah branch of Jerusalem University 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 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 had made many foreign policy mistakes, 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. While he answered the question, I tried not to give in to frustrated laughter because, I shit you not, this is what he said... 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... The Arab governments need to renounce violence against 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. Can you explain to the Palestinian people how the US can be opposed to these things, but still support a state that has racist, oppressive, unjust ansd 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 was therefore 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!"
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2 comments:
So much for Obama's slogan of "Change". These politicians can only be described as "weak", because they don't stand up to the Israel/Zionist lobby.Shame. Real change is on the way,then the weak politicians will say, "I was with you all the time, but couldn't say to much on account of the power of the lobby". A Zionised politician IS a weak politician,vote them out.
That's a shame. I was hoping, in spite of Obama appearing in front of AIPAC, that he would have a more balanced approach to Palestine.
Did you hear about the President of the UN General assembly describing Israel as an 'apartheid state'? It was featured on The Real News and some blogs but not in the Mainstream Media.
http://therealnews.com/id/2921/December 13, 2008/UN+official+calls+Israel+%27Apartheid%27
Sadly, of course, the West in general has turned a blind eye to Palestinian suffering.
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