http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/06/world/middleeast/06diplo.html?_r=1&ref=world
The only path to peace in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict will laid with hard choices and compromises for both sides. In Obama's recent speech in Cairo he called for a "freeze" of West Bank Settlements by Israel. I applaud the president for his political courage in defying the previous administration's almost unconditional support of Netanyahu. A risky move for him politically because it has already drawn criticism from the Zionist Organization of America and other right-wing groups. Perhaps the visit by the president to the site of the Nazi concentration camp in Germany was a political maneuver after giving his speech in Cairo.
The only way that this coflict will come to a peaceful end with be with hard choices and strong leadership. The speech that Obama gave was a good start. Although they were encouraging words, a step in the right direction, they still are only words. This administration has the political capital to create new policies with Israel, and must show the strong leadership and courage to change the way the United States deals with Israel. I believe that Israel must make the first compromises to begin the peace proccess. A freeze in the settlements would be a good start, a show of good faith.
A shift in Unites States/Isaraeli policy might be damaging for Obama politically, but the possibility of progress towards peace in the conflict would be well worth it. A new and tougher policy towards Israel would resonate positively throughout the Muslim world. After the last eight years, our image needs it.
ok it's Iraq but it's interesting
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Here is a link to a blog put up by Morgan on a different Blog. There are a
number of entries that tie more to your topic than theirs. Enjoy.
16 years ago
The move by Obama recently in the Arab world was a risky political move, given the strength of the Israeli lobby in Washington and the whole US, but if it was genuine first step, it stands to reap heavily in the future. If president Obama is really serious about genuine peace in Palestine and Israel, his administration needs to recognize Hamas as the legitimate elected leaders of Palestine and not discredited leaders like Mahmoud Abbas and his cronnies who were defeated by Hamas.
ReplyDeleteI agree that president Obama made a good speech that definitely is a start in repairing our image. The only thing I would caution the administration on is not thinking of the Muslim world as just one opinion that is all the same. If I were to ask what Obama's image is like in the "Christian World" it would be quite hard to put together American, French, English etc. opinions into one unified consensus. Obama needs to come across as positive towards the Muslim faith, but not confuse the faith as mixed with oppressive theocracies like Iran or Baath Party extremists in Syria. The idea is to not think of the Muslim image as a horse race. Our image will gradually get better, but playing to all sides will have us end up with no allies in the end. Luckily, with Iranian elections coming up, we might see some more moderates elected, but Obama must televise the Iranian Governments attempts to silence moderates.
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