Re: [Marxism] "What Obama Said and What He Didn't"

[Marv Gandall <marvgandall@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Obama's speech was a restatement of long-standing US Democratic
Party/Israeli Labour Party policy towards the Middle East, delivered in his
usual masterful way which makes traditional DP policies sound fresh and
exciting.

The US Democrats and the Israeli centre-left want an end to the
destabilizing occupation of the West Bank and favour the establishment of a
weak, shrunken, and demilitarized Palestinian state which is economically
and in all other ways dependent on Israel.

They're opposed by the US and Israeli right which rejects any notion of a
Palestinian state, no matter how enfeebled, and instead supports the
"natural growth" of Israeli settlements which increasingly drives
Palestinians off their land. The ethnic cleansing favoured by Israeli
foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman is a more explicit and brutal extension
of this stealth policy. These are the main fault lines in US and Israeli
politics on which developments in the Middle East have turned.

The objective of the US and Israeli liberals was very nearly reached by the
Clinton administration and (Ehud) Barak government at Camp David and Taba in
2000, but Arafat balked when it became apparent he could not sell the deal
to Hamas and to much of his Fatah base, who jointly represent the
Palestinian masses. This failure neatly dovetailed with the interests of the
US and Israeli right who came to power shortly thereafter and who put paid
to this process.

Obama's speech in Cairo heralds it's revival after eight years of
uninterrupted and widening conflict in Palestine and the region. It will be
difficult for the Netanyahu government, shorn of the support of an allied
Republican administration in Washington, to stand in the way. As suggested
below, it will have to endorse a Palestinian state in theory while seeking
to sabotage it's attainment in the next round of talks led by US envoy
George Mitchell.

*    *    *

Israeli officials: U.S. leaves no choice but to okay Palestinian state
Haaretz Service
June 6 2009

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1090715.html

Officials in Jerusalem told Israel Radio on Saturday that there is no
alternative but to ultimately agree to the establishment of a Palestinian
state.

Israel will be forced to acknowledge the necessity of a future Palestinian
state because there are no signs that the Obama administration will yield on
this issue, a diplomatic source told Israel Radio.

Government sources in Jerusalem also told Israel Radio that the quicker
Israel adopts the road map for peace as the preferred diplomatic initiative,
the more likely it will ward off American pressure to concede to a
Palestinian state within the framework of an alternative plan that is less
agreeable to Israel.

U.S. President Barack Obama announced on Friday that he is dispatching his
envoy, George Mitchell, to the region. Mitchell, who is due to arrive on
Monday, is expected to meet with President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, and Defense Minister
Ehud Barak, according to Israel Radio.

Israeli officials involved in planning the Mitchell visit told Israel Radio
that the Netanyahu government will hold firm on its insistence to allow for
continued construction in large settlements to meet the needs of the
communities' "natural growth."

The officials added that Israel is examining ways to dovetail Jerusalem's
needs with Washington's new policy towards the region.

One day after his highly touted speech to the Muslim world, Obama said
Friday that the "moment is now" to push forward a two-state solution, adding
that both the Palestinians and Israel must get serious and prepare to make
some difficult compromises.

"I am confident that if we stick with it, having started early, we can make
some serious progress this year," Obama told a news conference in Dresden
with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"The moment is now for us to act on what we all know to be the truth, which
is that each side is going to have to make some difficult compromises,"
Obama said after talks with Merkel


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