What to Say to Barack Obama?

The American Democratic presidential candidate, Barack Obama, does not have political experience, for he is the sort of representative who is immersed in local issues, and whose interest in political affairs began after his decision to run as a Democrat in the presidential election. This means that the man lacks specific skills enjoyed by his opponent, Hillary Clinton, who collaborated with her husband, the former American president, in important stages and big decisions during his tenure in the White House. Nevertheless, Obama secured the party’s nomination not because he was the best, but because Hillary was the worst, and today, after becoming the first major black party candidate to make it nearly halfway through the presidential race, his stumbling. faux pas and slips of the tounge are increasing— more specifically, those of whiche is related to his shallow grasp of and familiarity with global politics and issues— are considered a rich source of material for the American press.

What is relevant to us in this context are issues of the Arab region of which we are a part. If the next president of the United States echoes the belief of his predecessors that Israel is a nation that broke free from Arab colonization and recovered its occupied lands in the wars of 1948 and 1967, then this is a disaster. And if he believes, as does the current President Bush, that the optimal solution for the refugee problem is settlement in the host countries, then the calamity is worse. But as for the mother of all catastrophes, it is pursuing the same view of the nature of the relationship between the United States and the Arab nations as one of master and slave, or provider and ward, and that the Arab people don’t understand anything other than the language of force, threats, and pressure.

Barack Obama is among us now and in our hands, so we must put the facts in his mind so that he may know what has been perpetuated at the hands of previous candidates and presidents. In principle, it is important to know for certain that Jordan is a friendly country to the entire world, and which respects and appreciates all the support provided to it by the USA; however, Barack Obama must hear the facts from us as they are on the ground. For no Jordanian option in Palestine is acceptable, neither a federation nor a confederation nor solving the refugee problem at the expense of the Jordanians. The best solution for Israel, America, and the whole world is to establish an independent, sovereign Palestine. Barack Obama must hear from us now, while he is visiting our country, in the context of the political lessons which he is trying to learn through his tour in the crisis areas, that establishing new settlements and fattening the existing ones, building the buffer wall, stealing water, and threatening Palestine with transfer, never mind the Israeli nuclear threat, are all crimes committed by Tel Aviv.

Perhaps it is important to remind Barack Obama that flattering the Jews and Israelis must not be at the expense of Jordan or Palestine. Jerusalem is an occupied city whether Barack talks about it in Amman or in New York in front of gathered Jewish organizations, and it will never be the unified capital of Israel. Barack must recognize that with the Iranian nuclear threat, as with the Israeli nuclear threat, we are the victims, for there’s no difference between one danger and another. They trivialize Hell and make it cool and peaceful, but we are the ones who know what threatens our fate and maybe our future existence. There are many things which Barack must know, and before that must hear, and after that, welcome...