An open letter to Barack Obama [View All]

[IndianaGreen]

An open letter to Barack Obama

Mr. President:

The whole world celebrated your election as the first African American president of the U.S. I did not. Neither did the inhabitants of the concentration camp where I live.

Your sympathetic visit to Sderot--an Israeli town which was the Palestinian village of Najd until 1948, when its people were ethnically cleansed--your first visit three years earlier to a kibbutz in northern Israel in support of its residents, and your pledge to be committed to the security of the state of Israel and its "right" to retain unified Jerusalem as the capital city of the Jewish people, to give but few examples, were all clear indications of where your heart lies.

Another reason for the writing of this letter is shock at the indifference and arrogance with which Secretary of State Hillary Clinton dismissed Palestinian concerns about Israel's illegal Jewish-only settlements in the West Bank. Only a few weeks ago, you made the admirable statement that all Jewish settlement construction must halt, and you made it clear that this included the expansion of existing settlements as well as the construction of new settlements.

However, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu let it be known that he had no intention of stopping settlements, you missed a historic opportunity to draw a line--no more billions and no more weapons for Israel unless and until this condition is met. Now Secretary of State Clinton has the Herculean task of pretending that your position on Jewish settlements has not changed, though it is clear you have chosen not to use the very real power at your disposal to bring Israeli policy into line.

About six months after your election, you gave a speech in Cairo, addressed to the Arab and Islamic worlds, which some people found impressive. I found it impressive in form, but not in substance, because your actions have not matched your rhetoric.

Read more at: http://socialistworker.org/2009/11/19/open-letter-to-obama