7 thoughts on “Malley Talked to Hamas, Oh My! – Tikun Olam תיקון עולם إصلاح العالم
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  1. So, when Nixon went to China in 1972, and when Reagan sat down with Gorbachev to discuss arms control, did that mean that these presidents were embracing Communism?

    Does anyone remember that Winston Churchill said, “Jaw-jaw is better than war-war”?

    These attacks on Obama, and his response, makes me wonder if all of these people have lost their minds.

  2. It will be interesting to see the long-term response to this nonsense. I’ll be gravely disappointed if Obama doesn’t stand up and call this ugly pandering stupidity what it is. Wouldn’t it be refreshing to see a politician declare: I’m not a terrorist sympathizer and only an idiot would buy McCain’s feeble attempts to label me as such?”

    There are a range of opinions on the proper course to take to deal with these conflicts. Obama should have the courage to say so.

  3. Obama has been doing the classic politician’s thing–pandering to the interest group with the most clout on a given issue. It’s what politicians do, as I seem to recall some preacher saying recently.

    Anyway, on this particular issue Obama is either sincere in his statements about Hamas (and I hope he isn’t) or he has put himself in a very uncomfortable position and is going to take a hell of a lot of abuse if he gets into office and starts behaving sensibly. I’ll come to his defense if he does that (I’m sure he’ll be glad to know this), but the rightwing critics will be right to say that he lied to them and the American people. He’ll be ripped to shreds and lose an awful lot of credibility.

    It might possibly be better to treat the American people as adults and have a real open and honest debate about the proper approach to the Israel/Palestine problem, but on the other hand, maybe professional politicians know just how far they’d get if they did that.

  4. The Jeffrey Goldberg interview is interesting. Most of it is just embarrassing–Obama even mentions the Leon Uris books favorably and apparently has no qualms about any actions Israel took in Lebanon in 2006. He also misrepresents Jimmy Carter’s use of the word “apartheid”, pretending that Carter applied it to Israel itself and not to its West Bank policies.

    But I suppose it’s good that he does say he doesn’t agree with every action the Israelis take and at one point he even goes way out on a limb and says the settlements are not helpful. So there are indications that he would try to go forward with peace talks. But he comes across as someone who wants to solve the Israel/Palestinian problem mainly because it is a danger to Israel, and his sympathy for Palestinians is at best shallow. If he is putting on an act to get elected, he’s quite good at it.

  5. In case anyone is reading, here is a more positive view of Obama’s interview with Goldberg. If this guy (an anonymous reader of Glenn Greenwald) is right, Obama might mean well, but feels he has to jump through hoops and talk in code.

    link

  6. @Donald:

    And don’t forget Obama was being interviewed by Jeffrey Goldberg who maintains a strong Islamophobic/anti-Palestinian perspective on the I-P conflict. Goldberg’s review of Carter’s last book was pure poison. Really awful.

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