Obama's 'White Paper' of 2009

By Moshe Dann

Attempting to appease Arabs who had been attacking Jews and rioting throughout Palestine during the late 1930's, Britain, the Mandatory Power, issued a cruel policy statement -- a "White Paper" -- in 1939.

Britain restricted the number of Jews desperately trying to escape the Nazis and immigrate to Palestine to 75,000, spread over 5 years, after which time no Jews would be allowed to immigrate (without Arab approval); it also prohibited Jews from buying land in Palestine. This directly violated the purpose and conditions of the Mandate and condemned millions of Jews trapped in European savagery.

Despite this draconian "law," however, many Jews were smuggled illegally into Palestine, a rescue mission that became a defining symbol in Israel's (and Jewish) history. Seventy years later, President Obama has issued a new "White Paper" against Jewish settlements.

Directed only against Jews, Obama's policy is clearly anti-Jewish and blatantly discriminatory. He does not even mention the issues of incitement and terrorism officially sponsored by the Palestinian Authority and most Arab and Muslim countries. Jihadism is not on his agenda; Jewish communities in Yehuda and Shomron (the "West Bank") are his obsession.

Obama has no effective policy on the on-going atrocities in Sudan, Somalia or other Muslim countries that oppress and slaughter their own populations. Israeli Jews are in his crosshairs.

He cannot and will not prevent North Korea and Iran from their nuclear ambitions. He can't secure Pakistan. He is determined, however, to defeat Israeli Jews.

This is an issue that strikes at the heart of American values and ideals - as well as common sense. No American political leader has enunciated and carried out a policy intended to destroy the State of Israel - as Obama's policies surely lead.

No American President would dare violate basic American interests -- the support of the only democracy in the entire region.

And no American President would retreat from the battle against terrorism.

Obama's 'White Paper' against Jews, like that of the British in 1939, is a sign of moral depravity - not only because it means Jews will be murdered, but because it contradicts fundamental American beliefs in human rights.

If Obama would subject his policies to review by Congress or the Supreme Court he would be ridiculed - not because he doesn't have the Constitutional right to make such policies, but because what he proposes violates values embodied in the Constitution.

Obama's anti-Israel policy, unlike those of some of his predecessors, like Jimmy Carter, lacks even the pretense of "even-handedness," - the code words for punish Israel - since there is no reciprocity. Israel has nothing to gain and everything to lose.

Obama's anti-Israel policies are un-American because they are unfair.

Obama's anti-Israel policies are un-American because Israel is America's only reliable ally in the entire region.

A danger to American interests, Obama's policies should be of deep concern to Americans - not because they put Israel at risk - but because they damage America.

The author, a former asst professor of History (CUNY), is a writer and journalist living in Israel. moshedan@netvision.net.il