[The video and transcript of President Obama's speech in Israel are here -- moderator.]
Obama Never Stood a Chance with Israel's Analysts
Obama barely finished his speech before it was engulfed in waves of sour, skeptical, judgmental negativity from our studio analysts. If anyone tries to talk about hope, peace and justice, they’ll tell you how 'naive’ and 'childish’ it is.
By Gideon Levy
Haaretz
March 24, 2013
U.S. President Barack Obama never stood a chance. It was not Israeli public opinion he had to conquer, not Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to persuade. His assignment was to break down the iron wall of Israeli political commentators, and that is a mission impossible even for a statesman of his caliber.
Barely did he finish his resounding speech before it was engulfed in waves of sour, skeptical, judgmental negativity from our studio analysts. If anyone tries to talk about hope, peace and justice, they’ll tell you how “naive” and “childish” it is. After all, these carefully selected studio pundits - experienced journalists, university professors, retired army generals - know their stuff. They always say what is expected of them. ?(Otherwise they won’t be invited back.?) They generally know everything, and they did not disappoint.
They know things that we simple listeners, who thrilled to Obama’s words, do not. They are graduates of the Israeli education system, which taught them that in 1948 we were the few against the many ?(a lie?) and that all the refugees fled from their villages ?(another lie?). To them, the nakba is no more than a Palestinian PR stunt. So is the occupation.
As adults these pundits cozied up to the politicians, from whom they learned that former Prime Minister Ehud Barak left no stone unturned in his desire to make peace ?(a lie?) and that former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert offered Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas the moon ?(another lie?); that there is no Palestinian partner for peace and that Israel is a peace-loving nation ?(lie, lie?).
Our pundits have met few, if any, Palestinians. They have never been to the occupied territories and they have no idea of the damage Israel is doing there. Nor do they know much about international opinion other than that it is anti-Semitic, of course.
The Arab affairs commentator, by the way, is always Jewish, as if there were no Arab intellectuals or commentators in Israel. The occasional Palestinian interviewee will always be treated dismissively and patronizingly.
Our analysts do not believe in peace, because there is no one ?(on the Arab side?) to make peace with and nothing to make peace over. They know only that all Arabs want to destroy us, or at the very least to throw us into the sea. After all, they “know” the Arabs.
Our military analysts can magnify every danger, from a collection of rusty rifles captured on a rickety boat at sea to Iranian weapons transported in tunnels to Hamas and up to the goings-on in Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant. They know that a very, very strong Israel is the only solution.
But then the U.S. president came and tried to reshuffle the deck, to raise ideas of the like that have not even been considered in these parts.
The response was immediate. First, the generals stormed the radio and television studios. Why generals, when the talk was of hope and justice? What do they have to do with these concepts? Don’t we have enough of the generals when Israel attacks the Gaza Strip and calls it “war”? Why are we seeing Israel Ziv, Aharon Zeevi Farkash and of course the immortal Giora Eiland yet again? What could they possibly understand about what Obama is trying to tell us? After all, anchorman Danny Kushmaro’s berating of Obama for not mentioning “Palestinian violence against the settlers” was sufficient to bring us back to earth.
Then came the insights: Obama is “cold” and “calculated,” America is becoming isolationist, the speech was just a speech - and that’s without mentioning all the threats we face, just in case you forgot.
Anyone who tried to speak differently - American-studies scholar Yael Sternhell or international commentator Arad Nir - were roundly disparaged by those who understand these things. And really, how naive it was of you to be amazed and even moved by Obama. Nir said he had to choke back tears, more’s the shame. But trust our analyst to put an end to that.
Barack Obama has a dream, and we should listen
No American president or Israeli statesman has ever delivered a speech like this. It deserves to enter the history books – and Israel’s textbooks.
By Gideon Levy
Haaretz
March 22, 2013
It was worth it. It was worth listening to the first (and slightly embarrassing) part of the speech; it was worth the thousands of miles that were crossed to get here and the thousands of sweet words showered upon our heads; the removal of the suit jacket and the demonstration in Ramallah; the reference to “Eretz Nehederet;” Obama’s Hebrew declaration “Ah-tem lo lah-vahd” (you are not alone); Osher Twito; the Holocaust; the Seder night and Herzl, and all the other shtick. Every bit of it was worth it to get to the second part of this great speech.
It was the speech of justice. If there are still historical speeches, then this speech from Barack Obama’s can be classified as one of them. No American president has ever delivered a speech like this, nor has any Israeli statesman. American presidents and even Israel prime ministers have talked about two states; but no one spoke of natural justice the way Obama did, a concept that should be obvious; obvious to every decent citizen in the world today; and which should serve as a beacon for every Israeli citizen with a conscience.
What began as a speech that could have been given before AIPAC soon evolved into a speech by Martin Luther King. If Martin Luther Obama’s Cairo speech resonated deeply and sparked revolutions (which didn’t always start well), then maybe this speech at the Jerusalem Convention Center will also resonate deeply and spark revolutions. The president of the United States took a step toward the fundamental value: justice. Now it’s Israelis’ turn to do so.
It won’t happen immediately – Israeli society is too preoccupied with shallow things – but maybe the seed has been planted. Perhaps at the end of a busy day considering the “universal draft law,” Israelis will also listen to these powerful statements about occupation and deportation, Palestinian children and settlers, freedom for all and peace as the only path to true security.
Obama is back to being Obama, big time. The exciting promise he displayed on that election night in Chicago four years ago, that has since disappointed, was awakened last night last night to the sound of Israeli students’ applause. But in the aftermath of the applause, will people internalize what he said? Obama took the Zionist narrative – the one that Benjamin Netanyahu and his ilk tried to preach to him – and skillfully turned the tables completely. Passover reminded him of slavery in Africa, the Palestinian girls he met in Ramallah reminded him of his daughters, and the subtext is: No to slavery, no to apartheid, and no to the occupation. Maybe Israelis will finally – and not just fleetingly – put themselves in the shoes of the Palestinians, just as their greatest friend in modern times exhorted them to do yesterday. Yes, Obama is a true friend, one that tells the truth, even when it hurts.
Obama’s visit put things in perspective. He showed the Israelis how feeble, insignificant and small their leaders were. Next to this great man, Netanyahu was tiny – and he dwarfed those so-called instigators of Israeli change, Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett. This speech should have been made by one of them; but they will probably never make it. Now this speech should enter the history books, as well as Israel’s textbooks. Listen and make sure you pay attention: this is the voice of justice, and it is calling for change and for tikkun.
Spread the word