If Obama is to win over Muslims, he will finally have to put pressure on Israel.
“I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world,” Barack Obama announced in his historic Cairo speech delivered nearly two years ago. But the ambitious words have hardly been followed by deeds; the United States has been preoccupied with the aftermath of the financial and debt crises. As regards Israel’s unacceptable settlement policies, all the key players from Obama on down have proven to be far too indecisive. In brief: It’s been all (nearly) quiet on the western front.
In contrast, no stone was left unturned on the other side. The “Arab Spring” swept away dictators in Tunisia and Egypt; Gadhafi’s days in Libya are numbered; and Syria’s President Assad is only able to cling to power by using brute force. Morocco, Algeria and Jordan are simmering, and even the Godfather of Terror, Osama bin Laden, is now history.
It’s now clear that it’s time for the top man in the White House to make a few adjustments. He did so in his keynote address yesterday. For the good guys, (Tunisia and Egypt) he offers to open the financial horn of plenty. The bad guys (Syria and Co.) will get sanctions slapped on them. The super-bad (al-Qaida) will be annihilated. But stopping there won’t be enough.
A unique chance now exists for Obama to set a new beginning in motion — thanks to the uprisings in the Arab nations. But for this undertaking, one thing is absolutely imperative: a long-overdue resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believes he can still dictate terms despite his nation’s increasing international isolation. Obama should make it clear to him in their meeting today that those days are past; there is much at stake for the United States as well. The path to real “peace” with the Muslim world is dependent upon a viable Palestinian state.
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