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Obama Must Transcend Israeli/Palestinian Divisions
After eight years of the Bush administration, the Arab and Muslim world and many others in the global community greeted an Obama presidency with great expectations. Obama himself in his inaugural address subtly distanced himself from the Bush legacy and expressed the desire that America re-emerge as a global and principled leader. He spoke of a departure from "our legacy," the sacrifice of principles and values, in the name of fighting a war on terrorism and the need to exercise our power wisely and morally: "Our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. ... our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint." Finally, he called for a reappropriation and return to our legacy, "We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more [return to], we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort -- even greater cooperation and understanding between nations.
Speaking directly to the Muslim world, Obama called for a new way forward: "To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect."
But how should Obama reach out to the Muslim world post Gaza?
The U.S. will need to reemphasize its support not only for the existence and security of the state of Israel but the creation, security and support for a Palestinian state as well as criticism of illegitimate acts of violence and terror not only committed by Palestinians but also by Israelis. Successful negotiations will require that both Hamas and the Israeli government stop the use of violence and terror. However, the process can not begin with preconditions such as a one-sided pre-condition that HAMAS change its Charter, formally recognize Israel's right to exist etc. This would then require an equivalent precondition that Israel recognize the HAMAS government, its (Israel's) occupation of Arab lands, the refugee issue, and its building of illegal settlements.
Qatar and Turkey as well as Saudi Arabia and non-state actors can play a role. Qatar and Turkey in particular have relations with Israel but also been outspoken in their criticism of Israeli policies in Palestine and harsh in their denunciations of Israel's war in Gaza. Qatar's Emir has pledged significant financial support for rebuilding destructed areas of Gaza. Massive demonstrations by Turks protesting the war in Gaza and Erdogan's statements have had a deep impact on the Arab psyche at a time when the masses in the Arab world are in search of leadership.
In terms of inter-Palestinian reconciliation between HAMAS, Fatah and other organizations, the newly appointed US envoy, former Senator George Mitchell, may wish to adopt Northern Ireland model he developed in those negotiations.
The Obama administration will need to move quickly to redress the Bush administration's engagement in a policy of "moral exceptionalism" and abuse of power in the name of national security which has not only undermined America's moral authority and standing abroad but the civil liberties of countless individuals and groups at home. Following up on his inaugural speech, it should lead with diplomacy--whenever possible--rather than the threat of military intervention or force. It should move quickly to reach out and listen to not only with governments but with the Muslim mainstream: reformist and opposition leaders and organizations, and civil society organizations. Partnership with mainstream Muslims is essential to isolate or marginalize the terrorists.
The U.S. faces a Muslim world with deep grievances. However, it both feels disrespected and fears Western intervention, invasion, and domination, but also admires the West, the U.S., in particular for its technology, freedoms, and democracy. As the Gallup World Poll, the largest, most systematic poll of the Muslim world found both the mainstream and potential want better relations with the West, coexistence not conflict. However, many believe that the West, in particular the US, uses a double standard in its promotion of democracy and human rights.
Therefore, U.S. public diplomacy should address not only public relations (through educational initiatives and exchange programs) but also key foreign policy issues. Gallup findings (See, John L. Esposito and Dalia Mogahed, Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think) indicate a desire for the respect (reflected in Obama's inaugural speech). When asked what the West could do to improve relations, majorities reported that it should respect Islam and Muslims, not consider them inferior, and provide technological, economic assistance. Coming on the heels of the devastation in Gaza, major development projects (technological, economic and educational) should be initiated in Gaza and expanded in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the West Bank.
A new approach to diplomacy will reach out and talk to friends and critics, to those with "clenched fists" and those Middle East governments whose iron fists are often hidden in velvet gloves. Military aid (weapons, training and funding) should be carefully reviewed and limited since more often than not as we have seen in Arab countries and Israel/Palestine, such aid is not simply used for defense. The administration should pressure and incent our authoritarian Arab allies to build up strong civil societies.
Both before and even more in the aftermath of the war in Gaza, Israel-Palestine looms large as a major grievance and obstacle to peace in the region and improvement in U.S.-Muslim world relations. As Gallup Polling (Oct 2008), pre Gaza war, found while closing the Guantanamo detention facility would significantly improve attitudes toward the United States, it did not match the level of support for U.S. pressure on Israel among many in the Arab world and beyond. Majorities of citizens in countries like Tunisia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon said that increasing pressure on Israel would improve their view of the United States "very significantly." Thus, the Israeli/Palestinian issue rates as more significant to perceptions of the U.S. than closing down Guantanamo.
The Obama administration will have to transcend America's policy of "Israeli Exceptionalism," privileging Israeli interests. A more even-handed policy would require that Israel as well as HAMAS and the Palestinians be held to the same standards to respect and comply with international law and U.N. resolutions. A more balanced and credible approach will begin to restore America's image in the Arab and Muslim worlds. Obama will also have to avoid a legacy of political engineering (a preference for putting in and or supporting our guy to elections) that predates George W. Bush but was also adopted by his administration in countries like Iraq and backfired in Palestine.
Bush sought to marginalize Yasser Arafat purportedly to promote democratization. Initial support for the Palestinian presidential election of 2005 and Mahmoud Abbas' victory backfired with the election of Hamas in January 2006 in free and fair elections. In an attempt to "bolster moderates" and marginalize Hamas, the U.S. supported economic sanctions and a blockade and siege by Israel, while funding and supporting the electoral loser, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
A reality-based, pragmatic American foreign policy, whatever it may think of HAMAS, must remember and respect the fact that the people of Palestine made their choice in democratic elections. It was not just a choice but, for many, a protest vote against Fatah, the PA and corruption. The vote also reflected the belief that negotiations had produced nothing and armed resistance and violence brought Israel's disengagement from Gaza.
The Obama administration's new policy should seek to work with all the players, HAMAS, the PNA and Israel. The current Palestinian and Israeli leadership and Olmert's successor, Benjamin Netanyahu will not make this easy. Ignoring, marginalizing or attempting to eliminate HAMAS and simply recognize or perhaps more accurately resurrect Abbas ignores the realities on the ground. As the 2006 presidential elections demonstrated: Abbas did not enjoy widespread respect or support. He has been further weakened by his anointing by the Bush administration and the Israeli government and the continued failings and corruption of the PNA. The perception of Abbas as the US and Israel's man in an attempt to eliminate Hamas, and the perception of Abbas as submissive if not compliant in the Gaza war have only served to erode Abbas's legitimacy among his people.
As for HAMAS, it is not simply a militant (terrorist or resistance) organization based in Gaza but, as its electoral victory demonstrated, a political movement that also enjoys significant support in the West Bank. The Gaza war has rallied Palestinians and Arab and Muslim populations to a totally unexpected degree, one that could affect the region for decades.
The conflict and HAMAS resistance has captured the Arab political imagination and discourse. Gazans and HAMAS enjoyed widespread sympathy and support not only among Islamists but also Arab nationalists, secularists, leftists, and Christians. The 24/7 coverage by the Arab Media with its gruesome scenes of death and destruction, the galvanized public opinion across the political spectrum. The war in Gaza may prove to be the nail in the coffin of Arab nationalism. The Arab League and the Palestinian Authority, and many Arab governments have drawn widespread criticism for their failure to respond and act decisively. As a result, HAMAS and Islamists in general are in a position to consolidate their long-held claim as the only viable option to entrenched authoritarian regimes, secular elites, and the defenders of Palestine and Jerusalem.
By
John Esposito
|
January 28, 2009; 12:39 AM ET
| Category:
Religious Conflict
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Posted by: politicallyincorrectworldcitizen1 | January 30, 2009 4:55 AM
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Pakistan has mastered the art of playing the victim while being the aggressor in its relationship with India. It gets away because it plays by different rules with US and other countries from which it gets money.
Posted by: politicallyincorrectworldcitizen1 | January 30, 2009 4:51 AM
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Pakistan has spent its money on its military and high living for the top brass, just like Saddam Hussein, denying their own people any aid. This is not likely to change any time soon. Doing the same thing - pumping more money into Pakistan - and expecting different results is called insanity in psychology.
Posted by: politicallyincorrectworldcitizen1 | January 30, 2009 4:48 AM
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"Coming on the heels of the devastation in Gaza, major development projects (technological, economic and educational) should be initiated in Gaza and expanded in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the West Bank."
Pakistan has received literally billions of dollars from the US and other countries in aid. It has built up the most terrifying military dictatorship in South Asia and waged under the radar and outright wars with India in its sixty two years of existence with the policy of one military dictator, to bleed India to death with a million cuts. The Mumbai 26/11 was the latest. Its naked aim has been to annexe Kashmir in the name of religion.
More money to Pakistan for more of the same? Wow!
Posted by: politicallyincorrectworldcitizen1 | January 30, 2009 4:28 AM
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Gleaned from the Indian media
Karachi, Jan 30
The Pakistan Navy is to acquire drones and spy planes, as also submarines as force multipliers to augment its capabilities, a top military commander has said.
Speaking Thursday at a ceremony here to induct a Fokker aircraft and commission the T-56 Engine Test Bench at the Pakistan Navy Aviation Base PNS Mehran, Admiral Noman Bashir described the induction of Z-9 helicopters, airborne early warning systems (AEWs), and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as force multipliers for the navy's fleet of aircraft.
The T-56 engine powers the navy's P-3C Orion maritime reconnaissance aircraft.
To enhance the navy's "subsurface defence capabilities", Bashir said a contract would soon be signed for the German-designed HDW Type-214 submarines.
Commander of Naval Aviation, Commodore Adnan Nazir, said the Fokker, being a versatile aircraft, would serve to augment the operational capabilities of the fleet.
The setting up of the T-56 Engine Test Bench was a step towards self-reliance as it would be used for overhauling and maintaining the P-3C aircraft, Dawn Friday quoted Nazir as saying.
Posted by: politicallyincorrectworldcitizen1 | January 30, 2009 4:22 AM
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let play give it back. the islamics want israel saying it was theirs.
last time i heard they stole in by conquest around 640 ad or so.
im sure the hindu's want the stolen islamic part of india back, which traditionally was all the stans, and the islamic controlled parts of india proper.
for one i want turkey back - the original seat of christians. i also want lebanon back which was stolen by islamic armies.
and i want reparations. the islamics enslaved my people in so. italy, sicily, and spain. i want compensation. you also sacked rome twice - i want reparations for that too.
and lets not forget the islamic slave trade, started around 700 ad by islam when they told eastern and western africian countries to go into the interior and take peaceful blacks from the interior to be sold throughout the islamic world.
they want i see it - every piece of ground now occupied by islam was stolen from someone else, including mecca, and its pagan 13 black stones.
so lets play 'give back" you go first.
Posted by: infantry11b4faus | January 29, 2009 5:12 PM
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"A more even-handed policy would require that Israel as well as HAMAS and the Palestinians be held to the same standards to respect and comply with international law and U.N. resolutions."
A policy like that would collapse within 2 seconds flat. The Palestinians by definition cannot comply with international law, as it is part of their strategy to target the Israeli civilian population and avoid engaging the Israeli military in combat.
Posted by: MichaelNJ | January 29, 2009 3:01 PM
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listen CCNL - the flaw is islam, not anyone else.
you comment would be like saying that jews and nazi's could live in peace if you could removes the flaws in the jews and nazi's.
you mean the jewish flaw that wants to live in peace and not be murdered? that flaw?
and exactly what is the islamic flaw? i will tell you. whem moho went to mecca and told the jews that he was the jewish messiah and they said no you are not, that was islam's flaw, and their response was to kill every jew they could find, except those who paid a ransom to live, and even they wer ekilled when the money ran out.
then there is that islamic flaw where moho said he was a decendent of abraham, through hagar and ishmael. where is the proof of that? while we have a contempory line of auithority to shows abraham was a jew and was part of the jewish line, and he lived around 2500 bc, moho lived around 600 ad - 3100 years later, and his assertion is not based on a single historical fact. that is a flaw.
lets not forget the flaw that islam is charged with forcing you into islam or you die, that appears to be a flaw too. that is a few flaws out of many.
and what happens when you mention them. well a few days ago the pope said forced conversions was wrong and in response islamics marched in the streets and then murdered an elderly nun.
and then there is that problem that islam declared war on jews and christians in 600 ad before they ever heard of islam.
does anyone find it strange that moho picked the name of his god as allah when his fathers name was bin allah? sound a little strange?
or that islam complains of the crusades, which only happened after 400 years of being attacked by islam, having western india attacked and butchered and sold into slavery, north and east africia attacked and the slave trade started, spain attacked and forced to be islamic, turkey attacked, the very seat of christianity, and taken, sicily and southern italy forced into slavery at the hands of islam, rome sacked twice by islam, those little problems with islam?
well dont mention them, or the islamics will kill you in response to your saying that anything they said or do is not what one would expect of a good person.
let me make one more point, 1400 years later and islam is still at war with the world.
Posted by: infantry11b4faus | January 29, 2009 11:08 AM
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There is only one way to transend the problems of Palestine and Israel and that is to eliminate the flaws and errors in Islam and Judaism. Mr. Esposito knows these errors and flaws quite well. We await his recommendations on the elimination procedures.
Posted by: CCNL | January 29, 2009 4:35 AM
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While I can understand that when a huge contributions from Arabs enables the center that helps your academic career, you have to write in a certain direction, one must wonder ang question the underlying assumptions.
It's a shame that the entire field of study in the US is completely dominated by Arabs with a clear agenta and wealthy muslims who donate money and make sure the scholarship is beneficial to their end.
Posted by: DanE8 | January 29, 2009 1:56 AM
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The ideology of Islam was not formed because of Bush or even in the Bush era.
There was Islamic terrorism and Jihad- long before Bush was even born.
When people are taught that their calling in life should be to spread the laws of Islam all over the world and that violence is an encouraged method to do so- then, why would you waste your time on trying to convince them that these beliefs are barbaric, backward and inhumane.
Did you figure out a way to bring people from the middle ages to the 21 century?
Good luck with that.
Posted by: DanE8 | January 29, 2009 1:55 AM
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Dr. Esposito, your dispassionate, erudite and scholarly approach is refreshing and I hope you are among the experts on issues relating to the Islamic world advising this administration.
Posted by: otm11 | January 28, 2009 11:40 PM
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there is only one way to reach out to the islamic world, with bombs.
we freed 50,000,000 islamics and America are bad guys.
since islamics will never live in peace with America or with christians we should quit trying to live in peace with them.
iran declared war on us in 1978 - well its time we took them seriously, believe them when the kill our soldiers, and let the bombs drop.
we cant make islam love us but we can kill enough to make them leave us alone.
Posted by: infantry11b4faus | January 28, 2009 10:59 PM
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how do you exist with islam when they want you dead or converted and are given permission to kill you if you dont convert.
the problems with islam a jews started when the jews of mecca did not buy that bs mohommad gave them about his being the jewish messiah. that was 1400 years ago and you islamics are still killing jews under than command.
until you reject islam there can never be peace.
Posted by: infantry11b4faus | January 28, 2009 10:51 PM
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HAM-ASS & their Hazz-Bully-Oss's et al must be 'Wiped of the Face of this Holyi- Cosmic Built Space-Ship Earth: Zero Quran alone!
Hint: Ye art not Alone on Space-Ship Momma/Poppa Earth...!
Pleazzza Islamamaniacs!!! aka "Superstupidstitious folk. [Pre-apocalyptic thinkers: not Modern Kosher nor modern Hallal thinkers... etc..].
Posted by: InterfaithNation | January 28, 2009 9:43 PM
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Is there any fair discussion about the US "Pakistani exceptalionalism"? Pakistan is armed to the teeth and has been a threat for 62 years to India with no provocation whatsoever. Pakistan's claim to Kashmir based on religion alone has not been questioned or challenged either.