By Jafar M Ramini
Are you one of those people who, like me, were filled with hope when Mr. Obama was elected in 2008? Has that euphoria turned into bitter disappointment?
I remember vividly when my family and I were traveling in California and everywhere we went we were greeted with the posters of Barak Hussein Obama, with the big smile, the clenched fist and the catch-phrase, ‘Yes, We Can!’
Mr. Obama’s first experience of US foreign policy in the Middle East as President was a baptism of fire. ‘Operation Cast Lead’, launched by the Israeli Occupying Forces on Gaza in December 2008 with a brutality that shocked the world, should have been an indication to Mr. Obama of what the Zionists in Tel Aviv and Washington had in store for him.
Yet, Mr. Obama’s reported reaction to the atrocities of ‘Cast Lead’ and the use of illegal weapons was limited to a polite demand of Israel to finish the job before his inauguration ceremony on January 20th 2009.
Mr. Obama would have done himself, his administration, America, the Palestinians, the Muslim Ummah, the Arab World and the world community a huge favour had he taken heed of the timing of the assault on Gaza and the subliminal message that the Zionists in Washington and Tel Aviv were delivering. NO YOU CAN’T, MR. PRESIDENT.
Six months into his administration Mr. Obama paid us a visit in Cairo on June 4th 2009. We all remember that eloquent speech, full of hope, full of promise and a message to the Arabs and Moslems of this world that things were going to be different in Washington on his watch.
“I’ve come here to Cairo,” he said, “ to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world, one based on mutual interest and mutual respect, and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition.”
He also said, in that memorable speech;
“Let there be no doubt: the situation for the Palestinian people is intolerable. America will not turn its back on the legitimate Palestinian aspiration for dignity, opportunity, and a state of their own.”
He went even further to say:
“Too many tears have flowed. Too much blood has been shed. All of us have a responsibility to work for the day when the mothers of Israelis and Palestinians can see their children grow up without fear; when the Holy Land of three great faiths is the place of peace that God intended it to be; when Jerusalem is a secure and lasting home for Jews and Christians and Muslims, and a place for all of the children of Abraham to mingle peacefully together as in the story of Isra, when Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed (peace be upon them) joined in prayer.”
That enthralling speech sowed the seeds of hope and expectation in the hearts of every Arab and Moslem around the globe. Especially us, the Palestinians. Here was a man, who came from humble beginnings, with an African/Moslem heritage who succeeded to the zenith of international power. We all thought he speaks our language, he addresses our hopes and aspirations and he is going to deliver. That hope was further enhanced amongst us Palestinians when eighteen months later, in September 2010 he told the General Assembly at the UN:
“This time we should reach for what's best within ourselves. If we do, when we come back here next year, we can have an agreement that will lead to a new member of the United Nations an independent, sovereign state of Palestine, living in peace with Israel.”
If only, Mr. President.
Not only did you dishonour your own promises, you actually made things far worse. Worse for us Palestinians, for the American nation, the stability of the Middle East as a whole and subsequently the stability and prosperity of your own constituents. The American people.
You, Mr. President stood in front of AIPAC saying.
“The ultimate goal is two states for two people. Israel, as a Jewish state and a homeland for the Jewish people and a state of Palestine, as a homeland for the Palestinian people, each state enjoying self determination, mutual recognition and peace.”
Why then, Mr. President, did you go out of your way to prevent that same two state solution from happening?
How could any self-respecting President do this kind of U-turn?
Is it maybe because after the snub that was dealt to you in your own Oval Office in your own White House by Mr. Netanyahu and the thirty standing ovations that the same Mr. Netanyahu received from the joint houses of Congress that you realized that your presidency is a house of cards?
As if to emphasise your subjugation to the Zionists you recently said, after the latest despicable assault of the Israelis, yet again, on Gaza in Operation ‘Pillar of Cloud’: “We will continue to support Israel’s right to defend itself.”
You not only support Israel, Mr. President, you make sure that despite the atrocities that they commit on us Palestinians on a daily basis you keep supplying them with arms, money and political and diplomatic cover. You then went on to proclaim:
“I am proud to say that no US administration has done more to support Israel’s security than ours. None. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”
No one knows that better than us, Mr. President. We are the victims of that continued support. We pay for it with our land, with our blood, with our freedom, with the destruction of our homes, with the incarceration of our youth and with the desecration of our holy places. Not even our dead are safe in our cemeteries, Mr. President.
And now you are on your way to Tel Aviv, to pay the masters of the universe a visit. You will be met with pomp and ceremony; you will be taken by the usual suspects to the usual places of propaganda. You will be spoon-fed stories that they are the victims and we are the terrorists and you will be told again, again and again how to behave. They will draw parallels for you that they are the only democracy in the Middle East; the most moral army in the world and the best friend and ally the USA has ever had. And then they will drill you on how to protect their interests, over and above those of the United States of America.
If you feel bruised and battered and your butt is aching, then go to see our lamented Arab leaders. They will kiss it better.
You still believe that ‘yes you can’, Mr. President? This humble Palestinian in exile tells you ‘no, you can’t Mr. President’. Not unless you have the courage to stand up and deliver on those promises you made in Cairo.
I leave you with the words of a true statesman, Mr. Nelson Mandela:
“ We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.”
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