Obama Stumbles Badly on Israel
Posted by John Rensenbrink on 06/19/08On Tuesday, June 3, the day after he successfully claimed victory over Hilary Clinton, Barack Obama spoke to the powerful ultra pro-Israel lobby, The American Israel Public Affairs Commmittee (AIPAC). He fell all over himself to assure them that he was in their corner.
He asserted the old mantra of a “two-state solution” for Israel and Palstine. This inevitably binds him to affirm a Jewish state, and he dutifully asserted his identification with a “Jewish state”. But a Jewish state flies in the face of the facts. A large percentage of people in Israel are Arabs and other non-Jews. And the non-Jews are reproducing much faster than the Jews so that the future cannot possibly be that of a Jewish state.
Obama has said he stands for diversity and multiculturalism. Well, he has abandoned that notion in the very first trial that he faced. The only real solution for Israel and Palstine (and I believe it is a Green solution) is a one-state solution, preferably in the form of a federation. Like South Africa. Or like Switzerland. This would also resolve the intractable conflict over Jerusalem. It would provide the structural conditions for peace and a prosperous future for all, Jews and Arabs.
Obama rode high on Tuesday, June 3. He fell into a ditch on Wednesday. He could have done a statesmanlike thing by affirming his strong concern for Israel’s security and assuring this powerful lobby that he has those concerns deeply in his mind. Something like that. But instead he out-Bushes Bush, he out McKains McCain, he out Hillary’s Hillary. With impassioned gusto he promises the world to Israel and couples that with bitter denunciation of Iran.Departing from his prepared script he said, “I will do everything in my power to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Everything in my power. Everything.”
This is deeply troubling. He gives aid and comfort to the hawks in Washington who want war with Iran now; he may even have pushed the pro-Israel and anti-Iran card so hard that Bush and Cheney might just feel able now politically to bomb the hell out of Iran.
His foreign policy approach up till now has been that of wanting to keep an open mind, to seek diplomacy seriously, etc. etc. His posture on Israel belies that entirely. Up till June 4,he has wanted to show that he is really and truly different from McKain and Bush—that stale crowd of militarists and imperialists. He failed entirely.His failure is to the detriment of his campaign and hopes of victory in November.
His one-sided stance will not wash. It will not wash with the died-in-the wool AIPAC lobby—they will see it merely as an opportunistic tactic—and that has since then become quite evident as Lieberman assails him for not meaning what he says. Nor will it wash with Obama’s young voters (aged 18 to 35). They provided him with the votes to give him the victory over Hillary. They will also see his sucking up to AIPAC as opportunism. He has failed from both sides.
John Rensenbrink