The Youth Will Reject Obama’s Gestures
By Ali Rizk
The latest speech by US president Barack Obama was an effort to adapt to the new realities in the Arab world. His talk of supporting democracies and individual's rights not to mention what he said about improving the economic situation and the announcement of financial aid to specific countries may very well represent US policy in this very vital period.
However all of this disguises and aims to achieve the strategic political goal which remains unchanged: preserving US influence and the support of Israel. Obama and the American administration realize that the new emerging player in town is the Arab youth and a lot of this speech was directed to the youth as they were the ones who led and continue to lead the revolutions that have swept the region. He mentioned Mahmoud Bouazizi by name in an effort to address the emotions of those millions of people (many of them the youth) who were inspired by this individual. The end game is to create societies that will accept US influence and hence accept "Israel" and forget the Palestinian issue. I can already say that this attempt will be a great failure for a number of reasons and I will list some of them:
1- While the revolutions did represent a demand for basic rights and improving the daily lives and the economic situation, the recent events of Nakba day reveal that these revolutions have also led to a type of popular awakening towards the Palestinian cause which has given this cause unprecedented popular momentum that is causing "Israel" great concern. Far away from being a forgotten cause the issue of Palestine seems to have even greater importance for the youth after many were hoping they would forget their homeland as time went by.
2- In his speech Obama fails to mention Saudi Arabia (arguably the most authoritarian regime in the region) even once. Not only do certain religious and ethnic minorities suffer from unfair treatment in this country but Saudi troops in Bahrain (together with their Bahraini counterparts) have gone ahead with a campaign of massacres and human rights violations of the kind which we have rarely witnessed in modern history. This reveals to the youth (who have proved themselves to be vigilant) that there is no real change in the essence of US policy especially when it comes to alliances with authoritarian regimes for the sake of interests. The youth will definitely not accept a country (the US) which disregards the violations of individual rights, as this is what led to the revolutions in the first place.
3- On that same note Obama describes the US-"Israeli" bond as "unshakable". This unshakable bond is with an entity that continuously violates the rights of the Palestinians in the occupied territories and has indiscriminately killed innocent Palestinian civilians not to mention innocent civilians elsewhere in countries like Lebanon.
I would like to continue from here by referring to something which consecutive US administrations have failed to understand or have simply ignored. The main cause of dissent from Arab populations towards US governments is the US siding with Israel.
In his speech the US president has failed in changing this (despite Netanyahu's reservations towards part of that speech). Obama refers to a Jewish state for the Jewish people which wipes away the right of return for the Palestinians who were forced out of their homes because of the creation of the "Israeli" entity. Already we can see that this will be utterly rejected by Arab populations who, together with their Palestinian brothers stormed towards the borders of Palestine on Nakba day demanding their right to return.
Obama's speech also does not give the Palestinians their right to the holy city of al-Quds (Jerusalem) which is considered the Holy city of Islam. And while Obama does make reference to the sufferings of Palestinians he also refers to the ""Israeli" father losing his children" denying a fact which all of us are aware of: that "Israel" is the aggressor. At the same time he speaks of "Israeli" security concerns and when it comes to Palestine he speaks of a demilitarized Palestinian state!
I would like to conclude here by referring to another quote by the US president: "In this day of age of technology, occupation is unsustainable". This was a repeat of what Hillary Clinton said to AIPAC and is a reference to the developments in rocket technology and how "Israel" with its ongoing occupation is vulnerable to the weaponry of certain resistance movements. Obama said "that he says this as a friend". Well I think that "as a friend" he should have gone on to say that after these revolutions and the popular awakening towards the Palestinian cause occupation is not sustainable. Of course this friend (now lead by the right wing government of Netanyahu) will not respond regardless of the advice given to it.
Obama does say that resolving the "Palestinian-"Israeli" issue" is more urgent than ever before. Perhaps this is a disguised message to the "Israeli" friend coinciding with the Netanyahu visit to Washington: that everything now is against "Israel" including the power of the people which has proven to be capable of accomplishing what many thought to be the impossible.
The latest speech by US president Barack Obama was an effort to adapt to the new realities in the Arab world. His talk of supporting democracies and individual's rights not to mention what he said about improving the economic situation and the announcement of financial aid to specific countries may very well represent US policy in this very vital period.
However all of this disguises and aims to achieve the strategic political goal which remains unchanged: preserving US influence and the support of Israel. Obama and the American administration realize that the new emerging player in town is the Arab youth and a lot of this speech was directed to the youth as they were the ones who led and continue to lead the revolutions that have swept the region. He mentioned Mahmoud Bouazizi by name in an effort to address the emotions of those millions of people (many of them the youth) who were inspired by this individual. The end game is to create societies that will accept US influence and hence accept "Israel" and forget the Palestinian issue. I can already say that this attempt will be a great failure for a number of reasons and I will list some of them:
1- While the revolutions did represent a demand for basic rights and improving the daily lives and the economic situation, the recent events of Nakba day reveal that these revolutions have also led to a type of popular awakening towards the Palestinian cause which has given this cause unprecedented popular momentum that is causing "Israel" great concern. Far away from being a forgotten cause the issue of Palestine seems to have even greater importance for the youth after many were hoping they would forget their homeland as time went by.
2- In his speech Obama fails to mention Saudi Arabia (arguably the most authoritarian regime in the region) even once. Not only do certain religious and ethnic minorities suffer from unfair treatment in this country but Saudi troops in Bahrain (together with their Bahraini counterparts) have gone ahead with a campaign of massacres and human rights violations of the kind which we have rarely witnessed in modern history. This reveals to the youth (who have proved themselves to be vigilant) that there is no real change in the essence of US policy especially when it comes to alliances with authoritarian regimes for the sake of interests. The youth will definitely not accept a country (the US) which disregards the violations of individual rights, as this is what led to the revolutions in the first place.
3- On that same note Obama describes the US-"Israeli" bond as "unshakable". This unshakable bond is with an entity that continuously violates the rights of the Palestinians in the occupied territories and has indiscriminately killed innocent Palestinian civilians not to mention innocent civilians elsewhere in countries like Lebanon.
I would like to continue from here by referring to something which consecutive US administrations have failed to understand or have simply ignored. The main cause of dissent from Arab populations towards US governments is the US siding with Israel.
In his speech the US president has failed in changing this (despite Netanyahu's reservations towards part of that speech). Obama refers to a Jewish state for the Jewish people which wipes away the right of return for the Palestinians who were forced out of their homes because of the creation of the "Israeli" entity. Already we can see that this will be utterly rejected by Arab populations who, together with their Palestinian brothers stormed towards the borders of Palestine on Nakba day demanding their right to return.
Obama's speech also does not give the Palestinians their right to the holy city of al-Quds (Jerusalem) which is considered the Holy city of Islam. And while Obama does make reference to the sufferings of Palestinians he also refers to the ""Israeli" father losing his children" denying a fact which all of us are aware of: that "Israel" is the aggressor. At the same time he speaks of "Israeli" security concerns and when it comes to Palestine he speaks of a demilitarized Palestinian state!
I would like to conclude here by referring to another quote by the US president: "In this day of age of technology, occupation is unsustainable". This was a repeat of what Hillary Clinton said to AIPAC and is a reference to the developments in rocket technology and how "Israel" with its ongoing occupation is vulnerable to the weaponry of certain resistance movements. Obama said "that he says this as a friend". Well I think that "as a friend" he should have gone on to say that after these revolutions and the popular awakening towards the Palestinian cause occupation is not sustainable. Of course this friend (now lead by the right wing government of Netanyahu) will not respond regardless of the advice given to it.
Obama does say that resolving the "Palestinian-"Israeli" issue" is more urgent than ever before. Perhaps this is a disguised message to the "Israeli" friend coinciding with the Netanyahu visit to Washington: that everything now is against "Israel" including the power of the people which has proven to be capable of accomplishing what many thought to be the impossible.
