Palestinians --even the 'good' ones-- react to Obama's AIPAC speech

The good ones, according to the official American line, are those Palestinians supposedly represented by the Fatah faction and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.  Abbas had this to say in reaction to Barack Obama's vow to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee that Jerusalem would be the "undivided" capital of the Israeli state at the end of peace negotiations with Palestine:

"The whole world knows that East Jerusalem, holy Jerusalem, was occupied in 1967 and we will not accept a Palestinian state without having Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state."

In plain words, the 'moderate' Abbas warned there would be no peace agreement if Obama's vow holds.

Hamas, the bad faction --the terrorists -- and yet the democratically elected winners of the 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections, was no less critical of the man who has advocated negotiating with our "enemies":

"He runs on the slate of change, but he closes all doors for peace by saying Jerusalem should be the united capital of Israel."

So there you have it.  An Obama presidency would signal no change in American policy toward Israel.  And the peace process will stall once again. 

That doesn't augur well for ending hostilities in the Middle East.  

Comments

[Steve R.]

I'm curious why people think Democrats would somehow be more friendly to Palestinians than Republicans.

I can't see any reason the Democratic Party would suddenly end their long-term, unconditional support for the state of Israel.

If anything, the Republicans have been generally ambivalent (Geo. W. Bush is the first US president to call for an independent Palestinian state, but has done little to help them get there), while the Democrats have been consistently friendly to the most extreme wings of the Israel lobby.

[Harry Kershner]

McCain's and Obama's AIPAC statements threaten to continue unjust and inhumane treatment of the Palestinian people by U.S. policy makers and their Israeli "cops on the beat".

Both Obama and McCain continue to support unconditional military "aid" (meaning money into the pockets of U.S. corporations) to Israel as well as the exclusion of Hamas from peace talks.

We must pressure Obama to distance himself from Bush-lite/McCain-lite foreign policy. Please offer no support for any candidate who would take such despicable positions.

Please sign this Jewish Voice for Peace petition now at: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/301/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=1262

As a Jewish American, my first obligation is to change my own country's policies, e.g., economic, military and political support for the corrupt, militarist Israeli elites. Once we end this support, the Israeli people will be forced to act to change their own society.

[Anne]

Found this quote today in "Elvis is Titanic: Classroom Tales from the Other Iraq" by Ian Klaus.
"Every single empire in its official discourse has said that it is not like all others, that its circumstances are special, that it has a mission to enlighten, civilize, bring order and democracy, and that it uses force only as a last resort." (Edward Said)