[Marxism] Ali Abunimah - Obama's prizes for Israel are not "pressure"

[Dennis Brasky]

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> Ali Abunimah, *The Electronic Intifada,* 16 July 2009
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> Obama has consistently stressed his belief in the "unbreakable" US-Israeli
> relationship. Considering his actions and words so far, there is little
> reason to doubt him. But unless he is prepared to go much further than
> anyone has publicly contemplated in pressuring Israel, his peace initiative
> has negligible chances of success.
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> For months the focus has been on Obama's demand that Israel agree to a
> complete cessation of settlement construction, including the subterfuge
> called "natural growth." It was during a similar "freeze" in the early 1990s
> that Israel built thousands of settler housing units on occupied land. Arab
> optimism and Israeli anxiety were amplified as Obama and his Middle East
> Envoy George Mitchell said repeatedly that this time they wanted a total
> halt.
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> Yet the firmness shows signs of erosion. Israeli press reports spoke of a
> "compromise" taking shape in which Israel would be allowed to complete
> thousands of already planned housing units. Although those reports were
> denied by the United States, several participants in the White House meeting
> said Obama alluded to an unspecified compromise in the works.
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> Anything short of a complete cessation of settlement construction will mark
> an achievement for Israel; what is important is not the number of units the
> United States may approve, but the principle that this administration, like
> its predecessors, will license Israel's illegal colonization. Once that
> principle is established, Israel may present more *faits accomplis* and
> build at will.
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> full article --     http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10665.shtml
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> "It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong."- *Voltaire*
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