Friday, August 22, 2008

The Arabs and Obama


With Obama fully assimilated into the American machine, and with Arab disunity as stark as ever, the region shouldn't expect change any time soon

By Azmi Bishara
Al-Ahram Weekly

".....What is surprising, however, is that this quirk has latched on to Obama. His stomach turning grovelling to ingratiate himself to AIPEC, Israeli leaders and Zionist ideas, in general; his complete sympathy for the situation in Siderot, without an inkling of understanding for the situation in Gaza; and his parroting of the Bush administration's clichés about terrorism and about the Palestinians not only betray the extent of his opportunism but also the magnitude of his disdain for the Arabs, regardless of whether he truly believes what he says about Israel.

Not that he has encountered a unified Arab front to make him take heed or, at least, to offer him some advice. Of course, he must have heard some contradictory advice from the Arabs, and his advisors would have conveyed to him equally conflicting reports of Palestinian hopes and expectations. And, naturally, he would have heard about that initiative on the part of Arab states that excel at undermining each other, instigating mutual antagonisms and promoting their own agendas in secret about achieving some kind of justice for the Palestinians. Which is perhaps the major reason why the Arabs should not expect promise from any American president -- they have yet to establish this promise among themselves. There is not a single reason in the world why the Arabs should anticipate a change in a situation in which so many factors favour Israel when the Arabs are doing nothing to tip the scales in their direction.

The Arabs' chief weakness is that they are disunited, fragmented, lacking a common agenda and lacking the resolve and power to back any joint decision or action they take. So even when propelled by some impending crisis to meet and come up with a joint statement, they fail to back those words with concrete action.

There are no shortcuts. The Arabs will not see change in their favour until they do what is needed to make their presence felt as a cohesive and forceful factor in the international arena. Meanwhile, as things stand, there is, indeed, something new in the US. Sadly, there is nothing new with the Arabs."

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