Unfortunate that Obama has been forced to give ground to the Greater Israel lobby. One of the things I like most about his is his independence on this issue.
I hope this is not a backwards step for the Palestinians. The PA in the West Bank have been sincere partners in peace since the death of Arafat – despite the usual ‘nuke the gooks’ flim flam you’ll find on this site.
Worst of all is the strong possibility that Israel will see this as a return to the Green Light of the past, when they could treat their neighbours with callous and brutal disregard – bombard them, shoot them, disrupt their societies – and be rewarded by the USA.
Probably nothing will amend the behaviour of the Israelis, except, God willing, a slow multi-generational shift in attitudes in that country, but it’s distasteful that even Obama, the great ambassador of the new American outlook on the world, is impotent in the face of the huge political and financial influence of America’s tiny Jewish minority.
I wish American Muslims were more politically active: well organised, they could probably make up in numbers for the power of the Jewish lobby in media control and sheer wealth.
