Another article I wrote for ALLMEP's website...a little late...

“Two peoples with legitimate aspirations, each with a painful history”:

Obama’s Promise of Peace in Israel/Palestine

 

Davina Abujudeh

June 24, 2009

 

This is the quote that kicked off the Israeli-Palestinian conflict portion of President Obama’s June 4^th highly anticipated speech in Cairo, Egypt.  Within just 4 minutes and 45 seconds, the US’s still fairly new president laid down what he believes is the foundation for peace between Israel and Palestine. 

 

In the speech, President Obama makes it very clear that he supports a two-state solution and makes demands of both sides to change their behavior, lest any chance of peace be lost.  Many of the statements made by Obama can be remembered in speeches made by most other American presidents since this conflict has become significant enough for the US not to ignore.  However, there were significant differences in Obama’s speech which may give people the notion that we can actually believe that Obama means what he says and that, with his speech, he made have forced the peace process to take a step forward.

 

It is obvious in his speech that Obama was taking careful steps to be an unbiased as possible.  “If we see this conflict from one side or the other,” Obama states, “then we will be blind to the truth.  The only resolution is for the aspirations of both sides to be met, through two states where Israelis and Palestinians can each live in peace and security.” 

 

It was not these types of statements, however, which set Obama apart from the men who have previously held his position.  In the sentence following this statement, Obama says that, “That is in Israel’s interest, Palestine’s interest, America’s interest and the world’s interest.”  What makes this sentence stand out is the fact that, unlike former US Presidents, Obama refers to the West Bank and Gaza as ‘Palestine’, rather than ‘The Occupied Palestinian Territories’ or something similar, as many former presidents have while in office.  What this means for potential future peace between Israel and Palestine is yet to be seen, but in the meantime is has been taken as a very good sign, and a statement that was awarded with loud cheering and clapping by Obama’s audience. 

 

Obama promised to patiently dedicate himself to a peaceful process towards two secure states, but also called on Israelis and Palestinians to live up to their obligations, realize their mutual responsibilities and to remember and live up to past promises for peace.  Using a powerful comparison to Martin Luther King Jr.’s peaceful struggle for civil rights for black Americans, and pointing out that this peaceful struggle has been mirrored in all parts of the world, Obama called on Palestinians to abandon violence.

 

“Resistance through violence and killing is wrong and it does not succeed,” Obama stated.  “For centuries, black people in America suffered the lash of the whip as slaves and the humiliation of segregation.  But it was not violence that one full and equal rights.  It was a peaceful and determined insistence upon the ideals at the center of America’s founding. This same story can be told by people from South Africa to South Asia; from Eastern Europe to Indonesia.” 

 

These words, powerful enough on their own, are made all the more convincing and motivating coming from the mouth of America’s first black president.  Perhaps without even meaning to, Obama stood as a clear example that what he was saying was right.

 

Obama insisted that the use of violence is, “…not how moral authority is claimed…that is how it is surrendered,” and called on Palestinians, including Hamas, to refocus their efforts on economic and social development, paving the road for their eventual independence.

 

Demands were made of Israel as well.  Obama insisted that, in order for peace to be possible, Israel must recognize Palestine’s right to exist just as Israel expects Hamas and Palestinians to recognize its own right to exist.  “At the same time, Israelis must acknowledge that just as Israel’s right to exist cannot be denied, neither can Palestine’s”, Obama stated.

 

Obama’s biggest criticism of Israeli policies was clearly the continue construction of settlements on Palestinian Territory.  He stated that the United States condemns their construction and reminds Israel of past promises not to continue this practice.  Of the settlements, Obama stated, “This construction violates previous agreements, and undermines efforts to achieve peace.  It is time for these settlements to stop.”  These statements as well as others condemning continued settlement construction were met with loud applause by the audience.

 

The portion of his speech dedicated to Israeli/Palestinian peace closed out with a reminder to of the basic humanitarian needs that are not being met in the West Bank and Gaza.  He called on Israel to live up to its responsibility of ensuring that Palestinians in both areas are able to lead free, happy and fulfilling lives, and called to attention the fact that not doing so only acts against the security of Israel.  “Progress in the daily lives of Palestinians must be a critical part of the Roadmap to Peace,” Obama proclaimed.  “And Israel must take concrete steps to enable its progress.”

 

Since Obama’s speech, there has been one faulty promise of a two-state solution made by Israel’s government and rejected by the Palestinian government.  Whether or not Obama will put continued pressure on both sides to live up to the expectations he set for them in his speech is yet to be seen.  Where this conflict will lie on his list of priorities, along side a crumbling economy, North Korea’s threatening actions, massive protests in Iran, healthcare and immigration reform, a war in Iraq and Afghanistan and the countless other issues the new president is facing, is something I and many others hope he considers very carefully.  Hopefully his determination to find peace will not have ended with that speech.  Hopefully he will, at some point during his presidency, make a concerted and determined effort to bring about a peaceful resolution.  Can we do it in the next four years?  Simple logic would likely tell us no, but I prefer to use the campaign slogan that brought Obama to where he is now to answer that question: Yes we can.