[Peace-discuss] Arab-Americans and Obama's False Hope

[C. G. Estabrook]

[The following is from "Can I Have My Change Back? Arab-Americans and Obama's 
False Hope," by Remi Kanazi, a Palestinian-American poet from New York City.  He 
is the co-founder of www.PoeticInjustice.net and the editor of the forthcoming 
anthology of poetry," Poets for Palestine." --CGE]

...Senator Obama is not anti-war, nor does he genuinely seek appropriate 
alternatives to militarism in the Middle East.  Arab-Americans and putative 
leftists naively, and sometimes willfully, overlook the fact that he is an 
ardent supporter of the invasion, bombing, and ongoing occupation of 
Afghanistan. One also cannot dismiss that his views are consistent with the 
Democratic Party platform, which aspires to refocus on Afghanistan.  Obama plans 
to deploy additional troops in and increase funding for the operation in 
Afghanistan, but as with the case in Iraq, it will only intensify the struggles 
of the civilian population of the country.  Obama fully supported the Lebanon 
war, (even as the Israeli military killed hundreds of Lebanese civilians and 
leveled civilian infrastructure with tens of thousands of US-shipped cluster 
bombs), and played up his pro-Israel rhetoric nearly as much as his current 
Democratic opponent, Hilary Clinton.  As with nearly every other candidate, 
Obama wholly supports Israel's 40 year occupation of Palestinian land and 
dutifully endorsed the siege of Gaza.  Surprisingly, this is a politician who 
once curried favor with prominent members of the Palestinian community, 
attending a community fundraiser in which Edward Said was the keynote speaker, 
dining with Rashid Khalidi in Chicago, and receiving praise from Ali Abuminah 
during his time as a state senator.  Domestically, too, his shift to the right 
is glaringly apparent, reflecting weaker stances on undocumented residents, the 
Patriot Act, gay rights, and a host of other issues...

Full article at
mrzine.monthlyreview.org/kanazi050208.html