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PrintMay 19, 2011
Obama and Israel
I forced myself to listen to Obama deliver his so-called new Middle East policy speech. It was exceedingly difficult to do. During the speech, as Obama declared that Israel should acquiesce to the 1967 borders, my minds eye turned toward the days of 1938 and Czechoslovakia wherein the leaders of Western Europe so callously decided the fate of that country and declared it "Peace in our Time". Within less than a year the country ceased to exist.
I realize my perspective is colored by my personal experience surviving World War II; but I am haunted by the prospect of history repeating itself as the entire Middle East is about to become a tinderbox with the ascendancy of radical islamists in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen and Lebanon while Iran becomes the major power in the region. Israel can do nothing to assuage the blood lust of these radicals; there is not enough land to surrender, there is no compromise on the right of return that the Palestinians demand. Only the destruction of the state of Israel will satisfy the mob outside the gates of that country.
Yet today a President of the United States willingly puts Israel in a box, attempts to impose a course of action that if not taken by Israel will further inflame the Arab world and international sentiment. The seeds of conflict have been sown for many years, this past spring and today they have been watered and will sprout.
