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It would be a mistake to view President Obama's visit to Israel as just a fence-mending exercise. It is in fact part of a planned redesign of U.S. foreign policy that will change the face of American leadership around the world.
The student senate at UC Riverside voted on March 6 to divest from companies doing business in Israel.
President Obama's visit in Israel was a resounding PR success, judging by various indicators of Israeli public opinion, but as the dust settles, it becomes very clear that the visit was also an impressive diplomatic achievement.
Although there was no mention of Jonathan Pollard -- the American who spied for Israel and was sentenced to life in prison -- during President Obama's visit to Israel, Israeli leaders did call on Obama to release Pollard. And Obama refused.
For media as well as elected officials, supporting the opposition is prohibited... especially when you agree with it.
Whether you see Obama's Israel speech as a great motivational speech or a white flag of surrender, the practical consequences for the public are largely the same: the initiative for justice is going to have to come from somewhere else.
David Ben Gurion once said that in Israel, in order to be a realist, you must believe in miracles. The founders of our country were realists who believed in the miraculous power of democracy. Israel struggles every day to carry on that dream.
I submit that only divine Intervention can save the Holy Land. God is the only hope for achieving a "New Jerusalem."
Obama is not a religious leader, and he did not enter Jerusalem as Jesus did. But he should have focused on brokering peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians, which would ease hostilities throughout the Middle East.
After a seemingly schizophrenic schedule of speaking to antithetical audiences in Israel and the Palestinian territories, President Barack Obama successfully brokered a sudden rapprochement between Israel and Turkey on Friday.
Is this the Less Than Zero America, too distanced from itself to take humanity seriously? America is in da house, all right, but can Israel -- or any country -- look to America as an example anymore?
Obama's visit to the West Bank took him into the center of the Palestinian tragedy where outrage over Israel's military occupation and civilian settlements has been punctuated by bursts of terrorist violence, quiet oppression, and demoralizing acquiescence.
Putting oneself in the shoes of one's opponent or even just someone different from oneself, i.e., empathy, is at the heart of Obama's entire worldview.
As troubling as an Iranian nuclear weapon would be, it is unlikely that it would be as catastrophic as yet another American-involved Middle Eastern/South Asian war. By the way, where does Syria fit in the picture?
The president, in my view, was neither unduly raising expectations nor was he trying to undermine the Netanyahu government. What he was doing was appealing to the best instincts of the Israeli people.
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