Obama still not good enough on Gaza

Obama redraws Middle East policy | theage.com.au

The blockade of the Gaza strip continues; food and medical supplies can’t get in and there are even reports that Israeli ships in Gazan waters are still firing shells. It’s disgusting that the Western media has gone silent as if it’s gone back to normal. So, despite the fact that things haven’t gone back to ‘normal,’ what does normal even mean for the people of Palestine. They have known nothing other than living under occupation.

So now the eyes of the world turn to Obama. He can no longer hide behind the phoney excuse that he’s not president yet, but I’m sure his inability to go far enough will be defended by doe-eyed Obama lovers with, “he can’t solve everything straight away.” And he can’t, but he also doesn’t want to.

I don’t expect to be in a majority when I criticize Obama from the left side. But the point remains that I still have to be clear where I stand. Obama’s support for opening the borders is a step forward, but he must be condemned for still condemning the violence on both sides as if a couple of Palestinian rockets killing a couple of Israelis even compares to fighter jets, tanks, troops etc. killing more than 1,400 civilians.

Also Obama said, “The US and our partners will support a credible anti-smuggling and interdiction regime, so that Hamas cannot re-arm,” it revealed his plan to undemocratically impose the hated Fatah as the government, ousting the democratically elected Hamas. This will be the bullshit condition on opening the border.

Obama’s policy is better than Bush’s but is that really an achievement? An even slight gesture of pretending to care for Palestinians is better than what Bush did. Is this all we can hope for? I hope not! Accepting only slightly better is such a defeatist attitude to have. It’s like if you get rid of a thug beating you on the street and another thug comes along, speaks to you nicely and beats you a little softer, are you thankful to him because he’s better than the last guy?!

Obama is still at the head of the US Empire and all of the stuff about America being a force for good once again makes me want to vomit. His slimy left-wing rhetoric masks his intentions to re-legitimize US Imperialism after it was thoroughly discredited under Bush. No matter how eloquently he puts it, it’s still US Imperialism.

So I hope people don’t just accept a new President who puts a different spin on the self-obsessed, malevolent role of the US as a world power. There is still a fight to be had.

Obama, Gaza, Israel, Palestine, Hamas, Fatah