For me the most depressing thing about the debate in the British House of Commons on a non-binding motion to recognise Palestine as a state alongside Israel was that all MPs who participated, including those who made informed and honest contributions, still seem to believe that a two-state solution is possible. It isn’t.
A recent opinion piece in Ha’aretz by Gideon Levy, the beleaguered conscience of Israeli journalism, speculated about what Prime Minister Netanyahu would have said when he addressed the UN General Assembly if he was remotely interested in peace with the Palestinians. It was headlined It’s all a daydream. In this article I’m going to share my daydream about what President Obama would say in a prime time address to his fellow Americans, after the November mid-term elections, if he wanted to earn his Nobel Peace Prize.
The Obama administration or those who write its scripts must think that all of us who support the Palestinian claim for justice are stupid. It described Palestinian Authority President Abbas’s statement (during his speech to the UN General Assembly) that Israel’s last war on the Gaza Strip was a “genocidal crime” as “offensive and provocative” and one that “undermined peace efforts.” Peace efforts? There are no peace efforts to be undermined!
In laying out his plans to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIS, President Obama said this: “America, our endless blessings bestow an enduring burden. But as Americans, we welcome our responsibility to lead. From Europe to Asia, from the far reaches of Africa to war-torn capitals of the Middle East, we stand for freedom, for justice, for dignity. These are values that have guided our nation since its founding.”
When I heard the news that Jewish American comedienne Joan Rivers had died, I recalled the images of a passing moment I had with her in the mid 1980′s when I was on a coast-to-coast public speaking tour of America to promote the message of my book ARAFAT Terrorist or Peacemaker? For a few moments I feared that I was going to be the cause of her death from a heart attack.
