Anderson: Weak link in Obama’s armor
Obama's support of Israel raises curious questions of Apartheid and human rights.
By Joshua Anderson (Contact)
Friday, April 11th, 2008
I’ve got a suggestion for a new and improved definition of the word “Irony”: the fact that we now have an African-American candidate for the presidency who supports an Apartheid state.
While watching Barak Obama’s speech last month, I was struck by a statement nestled neatly within what I thought was a speech on race. He pointed out that the problems in the Middle East were not because of the actions of “stalwart allies like Israel”, but “the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam.” I have come to expect such simplistic formulations of the Israel/ Palestine conflict from the current administration, but hearing these words from the mouth of Obama particularly saddened me. What it amounted to was his surrender to our traditional policy of unconditional support for Israeli Apartheid, in an obvious effort to satisfy the powerful Israel Lobby. The sad truth that he reaffirms is that the occupation that is occurring under our noses and with our money will continue, even when the most liberal of us take the helm.
In Palestine reservations and Bantustans still exists: the West Bank is chopped up into smaller and smaller zones by a sprawling network of settlements and military bases, connected by an infrastructure of roads for the exclusive use of Israelis and checkpoints that restrict Palestinian movement within their own country. There is the separation wall, which continues to snake through Palestine, cutting off families from their land and each other, daily annexing more Palestinian land and resources.
Israel is an Apartheid state because Palestinians are denied their human rights precisely because they are Palestinians. The whole of the population of Palestine is placed in the category of terrorist in an effort to justify the Apartheid program, as is made evident by the recurring collective punishment by the Israeli Defense Forces.
But what Mr. Obama and his predecessors fail to understand is that the people of Palestine are not terrorists. There are people who use violent means to resist the occupiers, but beyond the question of what we would do if we found ourselves in a similar situation, let’s not forget that while in Iraq a war is waged in the name of America, it would be ridiculous to assume that every American supports such violence. In fact the very people who advocate for the victims of the Iraq war are the ones lining up to vote for the fellow who doesn’t seem care about the victims in Palestine.
For Obama, capitulation to the status quo is as much an issue of politics and power as it is one of simple fear for the rest of us. The biggest device used against critics of the occupation of Palestine is the equating of an Anti-Zionist stance with Anti-Semitism. It is a blatant and horrible abuse of logic and history to assert such a thing. This is roughly the equivalent of saying that anyone criticising any aspect of American foreign policy is Anti-American and ultimately amounts to a negation of the idea of democracy, which has as its cornerstone the necessity of differing viewpoints. It smacks of a new McCarthyism.
One thing must be made clear: resistance to the occupation of Palestine is absolutely not Anti-Semitism, and shame on those who would say so.
The soundest reason to stand up for the victims in Palestine as well as Israel spring from a deep-seated belief that the people of Israel and the people of Palestine are absolutely capable of living side-by-side in peace and prosperity. The myth that this is impossible is only the propaganda of the occupier who would have you believe it in order justify the further extermination and/or expulsion of the Palestinian people.
Anderson is a Perry senior in creative writing.
Discussion
All comments are moderated by Kansan.com staff. For our full user policy, click here.
Once again, you clearly misrepresent the situation in the region. I'm certainly not arguing that the Palestinians enjoy a great life (most people in the world don't.) however, you place the blame on the Israelis instead of pointing out that Palestinian leadership has been just as bad. Yasser Arafat embezzled obscene amounts of money from the Palestinian people while he was running the PLO and Hamas' charter declares their intention to destroy Israel. Josh, maybe it would be best for you to stick to creative writing and leave the political punditry to those who are informed of the situation. Your columns on the Israel/Palestine conflict show that you have a very clear misunderstanding of the geopolitics of the region. As far as you being an Anti-Semite or not, I would certainly hope that you are not an Anti-Semite, but its not entirely clear that you aren't. If you so strongly favor the dissolution of the State of Israel, what do you propose we do with the Jews who live there? I'm interested in hearing your rebuttal.
Note that the best that commentator TJG87 can do is bring up Yasser Arafat, that reliable old punching bag of the Zionist thugs, who has been dead for some time now. The Palestinian people were smart enough to vote in the opposition party, Hamas, to look out for their interests.
The Bush administration celebrated this bright new dawn of elective democracy in Palestine by proclaiming the election invalid because the preferred puppet regime, Fatah (Arafat's party), lost by landslide. Bush then paid off a highly unpopular Fatah enforcer to lead a coup against the Hamas government, which failed spectacularly but resulted in Fatah control of the West Bank while the elected Hamas leadership carries on in Gaza. This is reason enough for Bush & Co. to support the blockading and slow starvation of the people of Gaza, who were able to support themselves reasonably well by farming, fishing and manufacturing before the blockade.
Hamas has repeatedly proposed a ceasefire, but Israel refuses to consider such a thing and plays games of 'negotiation' for Condi's amusement while continuing to take over more Palestinian land and to kill Palestinians, including children, in the West Bank and Gaza with US weapons and hearty outspoken encouragement from Bush and most of Congress - including, as noted above, Senator Obama and especially Senator Clinton.
Americans have a moral duty to demand justice for the Palestinians, since our tax dollars are being used to carry out this cruel incremental genocide by the Zionist regime.
Beadew- I'm not really sure what facts you are basing your arguments on. Hamas' own charter calls for the destruction of Israel and every attempt at a peaceful settlement to the problem has been rebuked by the hard-line Palestinians. Hamas has not brought about any sort of reform for the people and has done nothing other than sponsor the death of members of both ethnic groups. By firing Katyusha rockets and endangering Israeli citizens, they provoke a response from the IDF, resulting in Palestinian casualties. It is a complete fallacy to believe that Hamas has done anything beneficial for the Palestinian people other than making their leadership wealthy. Once again, you have a clear misunderstanding of the Middle East and more specifically the Israeli/Palestinian peace process. Please, go educate yourself before you continue to make baseless accusations and comments. Americans have a moral duty to demand justice for EVERYONE, not just the Palestinians. You seem to argue that they are innocent in this process, when it is clear they are not. In fact, prior to World War 2, when Jewish immigration to Palestine was peaking, the future Israelis and Palestinians got along just fine. However, it was after the creation of the Jewish state that hostilities start. However, you seem to forget that there never was an independent nation of Palestine. It was a British Mandate and before that was an Ottoman mandate. Don't fool yourself into believing that these people owned the land and were prospering under British rule.
If the Israelis put down their weapons tomorrow, Hamas and Hezbollah would wipe them from the face of the planet. However, if the Palestinians were to put down their weapons tomorrow, the conflict would be done. Once again, please try not to be so ignorant.
"But what Mr. Obama and his predecessors fail to understand is that the people of Palestine are not terrorists. There are people who use violent means to resist the occupiers"
One man's terrorist is the next man's freedom fighter, eh? I'll stop calling them terrorists when they stop blowing up busses, dance clubs, and hotels. Let's not forget who is attacking whom here.
TJG87: "I'm not really sure what facts you are basing your arguments on."
What? Didn't you see the article in Vanity Fair last month? It contains a picture of an actual memo that US State Dept. envoy Jake Walles used in a discussion with Abbas in which the coup against Hamas is clearly being instigated, with substantial financial rewards dangling:
http://www.vanityfair.com/images/politics/2008/04/gaza_Walles0804.pdf
"We have met the terrorists and they are us."
It seems that Zionists and their sympathizers have a rather short term memory when it comes to the topic of terrorism. Palestinian acts of desperation are routinely condemned, but Zionist "freedom fighters" Menachem Begin and David Ben-Gurion (and others) are regularly held up as heroes.
Begin, the same man who led the Irgun, which planned and executed the vicious terrorist attack on the King David Hotel in 1946, killing 91 people and injuring an additional 45.
Ben-Gurion, who was directly responsible for the expulsion of the Palestinian people from their homeland, and had a role in planning the Qibya Massacre, an attack in the middle of the night by the IDF which killed 69 Palestinians and destroyed 45 houses, a mosque and a school. These terrorists went on to become Prime Ministers of Israel, and remain two of the most popular politicians in the hearts of the Israeli population.
I ask TJG87, do you condemn the actions of these founders of Israel and heroes of Zionism with the same outrage you feel towards the Palestinians? Is terror in the name of a Jewish state somehow more acceptable to you?
No, seriously... becuase these people plan attacks to cause as many civillian deaths as possible, they should be given a nation? This makes zero sense to me.
And what were you quoting? A quick google for "we have met the terrorists and they are us" brings up a rather interesting article by Uncle Bill. Or is this a cute way to argue Bush is a terrorist? I'll agree he is, but I don't understand why Bush's killing of civillians means we should give people who bomb civillian busses their way?
"Weak link in Obama’s armor"
Since when does armor have links?
Chain mail.
Neither side is a bastion of goodness. I honestly which one was just a little darker than the other so I could pick a side.
UDK columnists just write anti-Israel pieces when they've got nothing real to say. I know it's a hot issue, but nobody ever has anything original to say.
And what are you contributing to the dialog, thatonedude? As long as the Palestinian people are being kept in an apartheid state, expect to hear from us.
Broken_Oranges- What have the Palestinian people done to help the situation? Have they tried to peacefully talk with the Israelis to come to a solution? Why did they reject the proposed 2 state solution of the Oslo accords? You need to do some homework before you bring your tired, weak arguments to a forum regarding the situation in the middle east. You have no understanding of how things work over there. Ignorant moron.
TJG87 - I would invite you to take your own advice. The Palestinians - as well as many Israelis - have done much to help the situation. Israelis and Palestinians daily work side by side in and outside of the occupied territories to alleviate the pain of the occupation.
If you'd "do your homework", and you would see and know that this is true, and that the occupation machine is itself the biggest hinderance to peace.
If you still disagree, you can go on trolling comment sections of "Anti-Israel" columns calling people names - that'll probably help in the long run.
Simon-
Like I said earlier, both sides are at fault, but the stance taken by the author and his supporters is wrong. Of course the biggest hindrance to peace is the presence of the IDF, but what do you expect the Israelis do? If Israel does not maintain a strong, ready military, they will be destroyed. Maybe if the Palestinians stopped blowing things up they'd be taken a bit more seriously at the negotiating table. I do not sympathize with them.
Is this column a joke? Has this idiot never read a history book before? This propaganda sounds like its coming straight from Hamas Jihad radio. This really makes me look down upon KU allowing this nonsense to be published here. Josh, please go live in Saudi Arabia, Iran or Syria and then tell me what Apartheid is all about. Also, go check out Gaza while you are at it and go wear an American shirt or maybe a Jewish star and let me know how they treat you. Also, go ahead and ask Hamas what their views are on Homosexuality.
Share your 2¢
Requires free registration.