A Letter to Barack Obama from a Palestinian Citizen
Published in Alquds Alarabi
(U.K.) on 19 January 2009
by Nizar Mansour (link to original)
(U.K.) on 19 January 2009
by Nizar Mansour (link to original)
Translated from
by Namir Shabibi.
Edited by Louis Standish.
I followed your electoral campaign and the debates between you and the other candidates for the presidency with a passion, and I was convinced that you would win.
An American friend of mine asked me whether it would be better if you or John McCain won. My response was that if she was asking who is better for the United States, then I believe that your win would, to which she responded “Why?” I responded with the following reasons:
First, you have a better vision for the United States’ economy than John McCain, and this is what the American people need right now.
Secondly, you have better political awareness than McCain: you prefer dialogue, even with those who you consider enemies of America, and this is something the Republicans are lacking since their first choice is war.
Thirdly, you have a social vision, and you believe that the world will not be better for the American people unless they are well-balanced in their dealings with the world. I finished by adding to my friend that if she was asking me who is better for us, as Arabs and Muslims, the situation is the same. If you or McCain won, U.S. foreign policy would not change. I believe that this issue is beyond the power of the U.S. president and that it was in fact settled some time ago, with no possibility for change. My evidence for this is: despite the change of U.S. leaders and the ruling party over the course of past decades, U.S. foreign policy has never changed, even towards peripheral issues.
My friend responded by telling me that I am wrong and that you, Barack, are unlike any other U.S. leader, and I wished she was right.
I am sorry to say that your stance over Israeli aggression against Gaza proved that I am right. Never has any American president had the final say concerning the means by which to deal with the Middle East, and I have begun to dogmatically believe that every elected U.S. president receives a file which tells him how to deal with the Middle East and indicate just how much restricted freedom he has, and what the uncrossable red lines are. All have come to realize that the extreme Christian Right and pro-Israeli pressure groups are the ones that steer U.S. foreign policy.
What I wanted to say to you in this letter was that I (as do most Arabs and Muslims) consider our differences to be with the U.S. government and not the American people.
How is your family? I wish your daughters grow up to be ladies that make you proud of what they do. This is what all Gazan mothers wished for their children, their children that are killed every day by the Israeli Army, the same Army you equated with its victims.
Do you really believe that a missile built in a car repair workshop is equivalent to a missile fired from an F16 jet, and do you really believe that the martyrdom of 1,000 Palestinians is equivalent to seven Israelis?
I was a friend of America, and I could not conceive of a day that I would assist al-Qaeda in attacking the United States again. But Mr. Obama, imagine that I am the friend who began to be proud of what Osama bin Laden did because every day you prove that your words on human rights and freedom end when it comes to the Arabs.
Mr. Obama, I am the friend that tells you that you have given me 1,000 reasons to wish death upon your people, and thus imagine the situation of your enemies who have no need for any more justification to kill your people. I implore you to stop giving our children any more reason to hate your people. I call on you to think of the world’s children.
For once, do not let the American people carry the burden of Israel’s sin.
An American friend of mine asked me whether it would be better if you or John McCain won. My response was that if she was asking who is better for the United States, then I believe that your win would, to which she responded “Why?” I responded with the following reasons:
First, you have a better vision for the United States’ economy than John McCain, and this is what the American people need right now.
Secondly, you have better political awareness than McCain: you prefer dialogue, even with those who you consider enemies of America, and this is something the Republicans are lacking since their first choice is war.
Thirdly, you have a social vision, and you believe that the world will not be better for the American people unless they are well-balanced in their dealings with the world. I finished by adding to my friend that if she was asking me who is better for us, as Arabs and Muslims, the situation is the same. If you or McCain won, U.S. foreign policy would not change. I believe that this issue is beyond the power of the U.S. president and that it was in fact settled some time ago, with no possibility for change. My evidence for this is: despite the change of U.S. leaders and the ruling party over the course of past decades, U.S. foreign policy has never changed, even towards peripheral issues.
My friend responded by telling me that I am wrong and that you, Barack, are unlike any other U.S. leader, and I wished she was right.
I am sorry to say that your stance over Israeli aggression against Gaza proved that I am right. Never has any American president had the final say concerning the means by which to deal with the Middle East, and I have begun to dogmatically believe that every elected U.S. president receives a file which tells him how to deal with the Middle East and indicate just how much restricted freedom he has, and what the uncrossable red lines are. All have come to realize that the extreme Christian Right and pro-Israeli pressure groups are the ones that steer U.S. foreign policy.
What I wanted to say to you in this letter was that I (as do most Arabs and Muslims) consider our differences to be with the U.S. government and not the American people.
How is your family? I wish your daughters grow up to be ladies that make you proud of what they do. This is what all Gazan mothers wished for their children, their children that are killed every day by the Israeli Army, the same Army you equated with its victims.
Do you really believe that a missile built in a car repair workshop is equivalent to a missile fired from an F16 jet, and do you really believe that the martyrdom of 1,000 Palestinians is equivalent to seven Israelis?
I was a friend of America, and I could not conceive of a day that I would assist al-Qaeda in attacking the United States again. But Mr. Obama, imagine that I am the friend who began to be proud of what Osama bin Laden did because every day you prove that your words on human rights and freedom end when it comes to the Arabs.
Mr. Obama, I am the friend that tells you that you have given me 1,000 reasons to wish death upon your people, and thus imagine the situation of your enemies who have no need for any more justification to kill your people. I implore you to stop giving our children any more reason to hate your people. I call on you to think of the world’s children.
For once, do not let the American people carry the burden of Israel’s sin.
Hmmmm, I remember Palestinians dancing in the streets handing out sweetmeats and celebrating after 911. Do you think I REALLY care what happens in Gaza?
My heart aches for the Palestinian people. The
US is pass due to change it’s policy in the Middle
East.
Ground root organizations are beginning to gain momentum. Hopefully the noise will be loud enough.
I feel compassion for both the Palestinians and the Israeli’s. Both are children of God and both deserve a homeland and to live in peace. Slaughtering each other is barbaric and cannot be the answer. We Americans need to help these people to learn to co-exist in peace. Our national security depends on it. The global community needs to stop creating wars and conflicts. We need to focus our collective energies on fighting the environmental challenges that threaten the extinction or near extinction of life on this planet. WAR IS SO PASSE!
Reply to Vichysmores….ITS EXACTLY THAT KIND OF
INTOLERANT ATTITUDE MY FRIEND THAT HAS HATRED FOR THE USA AT AN ALL TIME HIGH. THINK HOW MUCH BETTER THE PLANET WOULD BE IF WE STOPPED THE HATRED AND THE VIOLENCE. IT HAS TO START SOMEWHERE, OPEN YOUR EYES AND SEE AND BE TOLERANT OF DIFFERENT RELIGIONS AND CULTURES. A
Reply to jmur.
Interesting. They dance in the street and celebrate after 911. No comment from you. I do not celebrate over the deaths in Gaza. I do not dance over the deaths in Gaza. I do not hand out treats over the deaths in Gaza. I am indifferent. How is this intelerant? Please explain. And try to do so without yelling. Also explain why I have to be more tolerant of people who want me and my children death. You want a reasonable discourse on how civilized people should act? Take you head from the sand, or whereever it is stuck, and provide a reasonable response. From your logic, I should not hate those who hate me. Sorry, pal. Wrong address.
I would not say Vichysmores attitude is intolerant, it just shows the thinking by some people on both sides.
If it was an easy problem, we would have solved it a long time ago. The “all or nothing” attitude about a lasting peace is something that will keep this conflict going no matter who is president.
Look at how close they came with the Camp David 2000 Summit, that President Arafat rejected. By the time they finally got around to continuing negotiations, Ehud Barak was out f office. This was the last time a Democratic president was in office.
The situation is much worse eight years later. You have two governments now, Hamas & Fatah, and very little room to negotiate.
Reply to dedwars.
Yours is a reasonable approach. However, one of the parties is dedicated to the destruction of the other. Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Moslem Brotherhood, and the rest of the religious nutcakes will only be satisfied with the destructiob of Israel. Takes two to talk. Terrorist do not talk. They kill. That’s all they want. They run Gaza. …
Reply to Dave Weaver:
So Dvae please explain “it just shows the thinking by some people on both sides.”
911 terorist attack on the USA = Palestinians dancing in the streets. Israel attacks Gaza = my indifference. Please explain how these are equal? Also, please explain, which side I am on? You are correct Arafat threw peace away. Now Hamas is in Gaza, and there can be no dealing with terrorist. All they care about is the destruction of Israel in the short term and the West in the long term
vichysmores,
I meant the “Do you think I REALLY care what happens in Gaza?” part. I think a lot of people in Gaza do not care what happens to Israel either. When both sides do not care about the other, it is hard to find a lasting peace.
It is not an easy problem to solve, and I cannot see it getting any easier. Hamas has its goals ( on of which is the destruction of Israel ) and is not an easy organization with which to negotiate to say the least. And those goals do not lead on a path to peace.
The people who live in Gaza , although they voted for Hamas, are bearing the brunt of the retaliation for Hamas’s actions. Yes, Hamas is a terrorist organization, terrorizing even Gaza residents. However, Fatah was fraught with corruption , and that lead to Hamas being elected.
And there is the problem, the people in Gaza cared more about a less corrupt government than they cared about peace with Israel. The people in Israel care more about the rocket attacks than they do about peace in Gaza.
Neither side sees a light at the end of the tunnel, and do not care about a final solution.
Reply to Dave Weaver:
Well, in this you are correct. My bad. I just find the situatinal morality that some employ on this and others to be disingenuous in the extreme. On both sides. If only Arafat had accepted the offer at Camp David. But these are, quite honestly, issues that we, as Americans, cannot understand, because we have not had simliar experiences. men of women of goodwill tend not to live long in the Middle East. Ask any Palestinians, and I would bet dollars to dimes that part of the “peace” settlement is either the actual destruction of Israel or virtual destruction through the “right of return.” Until Palestinians, and Syrians, and Egyptiana, and Iraqia, and Iranians, yadda yadda yadda, agree that Israel has a right to exist, there will be no peace.