Ruffling Zionist feathers

Now that the Obama mania has cooled down, ordinary Syrians are analysing what the US President was really saying during his June 4 speech in Cairo. Obama carefully crafted a 5,850-word speech, using prompters rather than reading off a paper, mentioning the word 'peace' a total of 28 times. Contrary to what many Syrians hoped, however, he did not once mention 'Syria' or 'Golan Heights'.

What delighted them, however, was the furious response the speech triggered among Israel's hardline supporters.

The Zionist Organisation of America (ZOA) came out with a statement criticising Obama for what it called "a strongly biased speech, inimical to Israel, supportive of false Palestinian and Arab claims against Israel, blatantly factually inaccurate."

The ZOA's rhetoric was surprising. First, it disputed Obama's claim that there are seven million Muslims in America, claiming that the number is anywhere between 1.3 to 2.7 million.

It expressed anger that Obama did not mention "Iran, Syria and [Palestinian President] Mahmoud Abbas's Palestinian National Authority, which threaten Israel's destruction and repeat vile stereotypes about Jews".

The ZOA was angry that Obama did not thank former US president George W. Bush for having rid the world of Saddam Hussain, saying: "Had president Bush followed President Obama's advice, Iraqis would still be under the heel of Saddam Hussain."

The ZOA expressed similar frustration at Obama using the word 'resistance' with regard to Palestinian groups, ignoring the fact that what he said had been, "resistance through violence is wrong".

What really angered them was the parallel he drew between the oppressed Palestinians and African-Americans during the Civil Rights Movement.

They were also angry that Obama had said he would not dictate any action to Israel, yet, "he strongly dictated to Israel& to stop Jewish construction in the [Occupied] Territories& thus reinforcing the myth of Palestinian suffering".

The ZOA added, "Obama made no demand to abrogate this refugee issue which, if implemented, would destroy Israel as a Jewish state. Palestinian statehood remains a repeated demand by Obama for Israel to accept even though Hamas controls Gaza."

The ZOA statement challenged Obama's speech that said Israel's creation was rooted in a tragic history of the Jews and the Holocaust.

The statement said: "Incorrect - firstly, for Bible-believers, it was God who promised this land to the Jews; and the 1917 Balfour Declaration and the 1922 League of Nations mandated the creation of a Jewish state on both sides of the Jordan river - before the Holocaust occurred".

Obama also used strong words regarding a Palestinian state, noting, "it is time for us to act on what everyone knows to be true."

The ZOA snapped back, mocking the US president, "Apparently, Netanyahu, the coalition government he heads, the majority of the Israeli electorate& and the ZOA, among others, are non-persons!"

The ZOA elaborates, "Israel has not impeded the development of Palestinian society. On the contrary, under Israel control before Oslo, the Palestinian economic conditions were much higher. Israel has played no part in the corruption and waste that disfigures the Palestinian economy. This is simply an unwarranted swipe at Israel."

Anyone who realises what the ZOA is - with its 112 years of history - will understand why many of them are worried about Obama.

The writing has been on the wall since January, when the ZOA criticised Obama for appointing George Mitchell as envoy to the Middle East because he "believes both sides are equally at fault".

Last week, they were equally furious that Mitchell was on his way to Damascus. Even worse, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has spoken over the phone with her Syrian counterpart Walid Al Mua'alem and discussed a "roadmap" to normalise Syrian-US relations.

Last February, the ZOA harangued Obama for choosing Chas Freeman as chairman of the National Intelligence Council - a post from which he withdrew in early March.

That same month, they lobbied to get the US Congress to tighten sanctions against Iran and place conditions on aid to the Palestinians set at $900 million (Dh3.3 billion).

Clearly, they are not pleased with Obama, who insists that Islam is a part of America and has been saying that he is willing to sit down to talk to Iran "without preconditions".

It is one thing when Israeli dailies, or a lightweight pro-Israeli group in the US, criticise Obama. It is completely different when such strong words are used by the ZOA.

Basically speaking, they have accused the US president of lying, cheating and falsifying history. They came a step short of accusing him of being insincere in his public statements of support for the Zionist state, when he said that American-Israeli relations were "unbreakable".

Arabs in general and Syrians in particular have been debating Obama's sincerity over Palestinian statehood, or whether he will be able to put his words into action on the issue of Israeli colony-building, given strong opposition within the US Congress.

They are now worried that Obama's future as US president may be in doubt.

Sami Moubayed is editor-in-chief of Forward Magazine in Syria.