by B. R. GOWANI
Obama needs a tongue transplant
“President Barack Obama on Sunday defended Israel’s airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, but he warned that escalating the offensive with Israeli ground troops could deepen the death toll and undermine any hope of a peace process with the Palestinians.” (Nov. 18)
You Tube
After hearing and reading President Barack Obama’s and White House’s statements about how the United States understands Israel’s “security” concerns and supports its devastating war against the Palestinians in Gaza in self defense, one can say with certainty that it’s difficult to figure out how Obama’s thought process functions.
When the Noble Peace Prizes are awarded to mass murderers, such as Henry Kissinger or Yitzhak Rabin, it is understood that the prizes are given to them for their generosity in allowing their devastated victims to sit with them at the negotiating table and to gracefully accept the humiliating terms the victors are imposing upon them-and not because the mass murderers have reformed in any manner.
On the other hand, the Norwegian Nobel Committee handed Obama the Peace Prize prior to his committing mass murders.
In the above video, Obama talks about the “precipitating” events that led to the present crisis. Well, Obama is not Bush Jr. and so is familiar with history of the region. The precipitating event was in the mid 1800s when the Zionists in Europe planned, with the help of the British, to settle the European Jews in Palestine, then under the Turkish Ottoman Empire.
The land which belonged to the Palestinians, the Palestinians are now getting back only 22% from Israel (in the form of Gaza and West Bank separated by Israeli territory), is mired with other problems. The West Bank has many Jewish settlements protected by the Israeli armed forces, whereas Gaza is held hostage by Israel.
And Obama is talking about who started the current crisis? Many people were hoping that in the next term, which Obama won on November 6, he will do something for the Palestinians. In September, while the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in the US to attend the United Nations annual conference, he wanted to meet Obama but the latter refused to see him. So one thing, it seems, is clear that that rebuff was on personal ground rather than any policy change.
In the current conflict between the Gazans and the Israelis, the number of dead were: 5 Israelis vs. 150 Palestinians. (In the 2008-2009 twenty-three days war, 13 Israelis died whereas the Palestinian death toll was 1,380.)
But Obama simply refuses to say the right thing.
The South Asian poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz once wrote:
Speak up, while your lips (thoughts) are (still) free
speak up, (while) your tongue is still yours
Obama spent over $1 billion, that is $1,000 million, on election. He could have asked for $1 million more from his donors. With that amount, he could have gotten a tongue transplant. (For sure, the amount would cost much less.) It’s still not too late. But he should make sure that the tongue belongs to some morally upright person.
The news media
As is the norm, the media favored Israel. It showed the tragic devastation in Gaza. But it kind of became funny when they covered the damage on the Israeli side. There was not much. The Fox news reporter covered a damage done by a Palestinian rocket to a house. The reporter showed the damaged area of the kitchen and provoked us to think as to what would have happened if the people residing in that house were there. The ABC reporter showed a house in Israel where the family had gathered and a little girl was bicycling around. Then a warning siren goes on and the family had to move to a bomb-proof room. The girl left the cycle and joined other family members too.
Of course, it’s scary when a siren goes on and you have to move to a safe place or when your house is damaged in a bomb attack. The funny part was the effort of the reporters to balance the terror of the Israelis with that of the Palestinians.
Mohamed Morsi
The Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi is the new darling of the US and Israel. When both sides have high praise for Morsi, then the only inference one can draw is that the status quo hasn’t changed.
But that is a dangerous thing for Morsi. There were protests in Egypt in favor of the people of Gaza. Now if Morsi sides too much with the US and Israel, then the militant elements in his Muslim Brotherhood and or other militants may cause trouble for him or his life.
B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com