jreeves
Senior Member
- Feb 12, 2008
- 6,588
- 319
- 48
Prime example...
The morning after claiming the Democratic nomination, Senator Barack Obama spoke to skeptical members of a pro-Israel lobby and made a pledge that some of them found pleasantly surprising: Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided.
That statement generated a storm of controversy in the Middle East, with one Kuwaiti daily calling it a slap in the face to Arabs. And over the last 24 hours, as Mr. Obama and his campaign have sought to explain his initial remarks, and suggested that an undivided Jerusalem would be hard to achieve, they have been accused of backtracking, which has generated a new round of criticism, this one here at home among Jewish groups.
In the Middle East, however, reaction to Mr. Obamas speech, which was broadcast live on several Arab-language television stations, was immediate, and strongly negative. Some of the sharpest reaction came from Palestinian leaders who had previously expressed hope that Mr. Obama would break with what they saw as a pattern of American favoritism toward Israel.
This statement is totally rejected, said Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority. He added, We will not accept a Palestinian state without having Jerusalem as the capital.
Even within Israel, where the speech was overwhelmingly applauded, some analysts suggested Mr. Obama had staked out a position beyond that of current Israeli leaders. One television commentator said his language was reminiscent of former Prime Minister Menachem Begin of the hard-line Likud Party, who signed a peace accord with Egypt but expanded Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/07/us/politics/07obama.html
Obama while trying to drum up political support among the Jewish community....
None of this is anything other than political expendiency.
The morning after claiming the Democratic nomination, Senator Barack Obama spoke to skeptical members of a pro-Israel lobby and made a pledge that some of them found pleasantly surprising: Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided.
That statement generated a storm of controversy in the Middle East, with one Kuwaiti daily calling it a slap in the face to Arabs. And over the last 24 hours, as Mr. Obama and his campaign have sought to explain his initial remarks, and suggested that an undivided Jerusalem would be hard to achieve, they have been accused of backtracking, which has generated a new round of criticism, this one here at home among Jewish groups.
In the Middle East, however, reaction to Mr. Obamas speech, which was broadcast live on several Arab-language television stations, was immediate, and strongly negative. Some of the sharpest reaction came from Palestinian leaders who had previously expressed hope that Mr. Obama would break with what they saw as a pattern of American favoritism toward Israel.
This statement is totally rejected, said Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority. He added, We will not accept a Palestinian state without having Jerusalem as the capital.
Even within Israel, where the speech was overwhelmingly applauded, some analysts suggested Mr. Obama had staked out a position beyond that of current Israeli leaders. One television commentator said his language was reminiscent of former Prime Minister Menachem Begin of the hard-line Likud Party, who signed a peace accord with Egypt but expanded Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/07/us/politics/07obama.html
Obama while trying to drum up political support among the Jewish community....
None of this is anything other than political expendiency.
