Comments on: Gobama or Nobama?

By: Aaron W.

Aaron W. — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:57:01 +0000

Yes, I agree with that. But to get back to the original point. Obama isn’t pressuring Israel just to try to improve the economy. He’s pressuring Israel to start peace talks that will undoubtedly only end up either with no change, or with Israel giving up more land and more terrorists, while the Palestinians make empty “promises” to stop terror, therefore needlessly putting innocent people’s lives at stake.

By: dimitri halikias

dimitri halikias — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 03:42:02 +0000

Hamas’s popularity amongst the impoverished Gazan people is a product of poor economic conditions. Obviously the group is anti-semitic, hateful, and terrorist, and I agree negotiations with Hamas are not succesful tools of diplomacy, but Israel and the international community have to make a commitment to improve the economic situation on the ground in Palestine.

By: Aaron W.

Aaron W. — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 01:01:04 +0000

I’m not an expert on Israeli economic policy, so I can’t say what specifically Netanyahu has done to improve the Palestinian economy, but a major platform on which he ran was improving it, so provided he sticks to his word, he has taken or will take steps. If he doesn’t, then I agree that the U.S. should pressure him to do so, but should be careful not to come across as too harsh or anti-Israel, so as not to alienate Israelis. It is true that Hamas does blame Israel for the poor economy to gain support, but Hamas itself is not a product of poor economic conditions.

By: dimitri halikias

dimitri halikias — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 02:16:16 +0000

What has netanyahu done to promote the Palestinian economy? And also, Hamas thrives off of the desparation of the Palestinian people brought on by economic problems

By: Aaron W.

Aaron W. — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:49:14 +0000

Hamas and radical Islam in the territories are in no way products of the terrible economic state there. They are products of anti-Semitism and jihadism, and nothing else. Hamas does rope in some of its followers by blaming Israel for the economic troubles and promising rebellion against Israel, but the organizations themselves were not products of the poor economy. But even if they were, Netanyahu has promised to work to improve the Palestinian economy, even before he was elected, so why should the Obama administration pressure him to do so?

By: dimitri halikias

dimitri halikias — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:14:43 +0000

Obama has at no time made any serious political or economic threat towards Israel. If you are referencing the George Mitchell comment, there is no legitimate way for the president to withhold or delay the arrival of promised loans. Also, radical Islam and Hamas is a product of the terrible economic state of Palestine, until the United States begins dealing with this problem, there can be no peace. I agree with you on the settlements issue.

By: Aaron W.

Aaron W. — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:53:16 +0000

Israel already has made concessions. They have promised to freeze West Bank settlements for 9 months. And the Obama administration has put immense pressure on them, even bringing up the idea of economic sanctions toward Israel. But even if they do agree to freeze construction in East Jerusalem, there still will not be peace. Negotiations will occur, and Israel will give up more land and more terrorists. The Palestinians will respond with bombs and missiles aimed at Israeli civilians. Settlements are not an obstruction to peace. The only obstruction is radical Islam.

By: dimitri halikias

dimitri halikias — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 12:31:18 +0000

I agree with that, but the only problem is that Obama, other than a few formalities and public statements, has not at all pressured bibi or any other israeli leader to stop the expansion of the territories. I agree that change has to start from Palestine, but Obama hasn’t promoted any policies (backed by any sort of threat) that would force Israel to make concessions.

By: Aaron W.

Aaron W. — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 19:15:44 +0000

He has put far too much emphasis on pressuring Israel without realizing that Israel is hardly an obstacle to peace. He just doesn’t realize that the Palestinian government does not want peace with Israel. This was proved this past summer when the so-called “moderates” of Fatah re-adopted the infamous “3 noes” of Khartoum: No peace with Israel, no negotiations with Israel, and no recognition of Israel. Obama thinks that getting Israel to make concessions to Palestinians will lead Palestinians to want to make peace with Israel. What he needs to realize is that pressuring Israel only alienated Israelis and caused Palestinians to believe that he would force Israel to meet all their demands without them having to make any concessions at all.

By: dimitri halikias

dimitri halikias — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 17:24:41 +0000

How specifically have Obama’s dealings with the Israel-Palestine conflict been counter-productive? Do you support the expansion of the West Bank settlements, or do you think they should be stopped and obama hasn’t done enough to stop them?