I have been wondering also since the arrival of fall here in New Jersey, and the nights have been getting colder by each passing day, how the destitute and ill-equipped people of Gaza will survive the bitter cold winter of Gaza. I shiver even in my sheltered home, and I wonder how will the Gazans survive in drafty, leaking tents that provide so little shelter? None of the houses bombed by Israel in Gaza has been rebuilt because of Israel’s embargo of building materials. I have not heard Obama talk about Israel’s embargo of even basic materials necessary for survival, and I now wonder whether your judicious words will fall on this new Nobel Peace Laureate’s deaf ears? From what I have observed, it seems to me that Obama’s ears are quite open to Netanyahu’s arrogant words, but they are shut to the cries of the Palestinians’ suffering children.

In an excellent article by a young journalist named Aditya Ganapathiraju, I came across a list of articles barred by Israel from entering Gaza: “Even today, the most basic commodities for life still continue to be barred by the Israeli government. Materials like wood for doors or cement for rebuilding in the aftermath of the destruction left by the last attack remained barred. No electrical appliances, like refrigerators or washing machines, and no parts for cars are allowed. Also restricted are “fabrics, threads, needles, candles, matches, mattresses, sheets, blankets, cutlery, crockery, cups, glasses, musical instruments, books, tea, coffee, sausages, semolina, chocolate, sesame seeds, nuts, milk products in large packages, most baking products, light bulbs, crayons, clothing and shoes. School supplies too, are blocked from entering. More than 100 trucks full of stationary are still awaiting clearance to enter Gaza. All of the 387 government-run and 33 private schools, which serve more than 250,000 students, lack essential supplies. Draconian restrictions on glass, wood, and other building materials, has kept the hundreds of schools damaged during the assault remaining in terrible condition. When an occupying army blocks tea, blankets, crayons, and school stationary from entering the “largest prison on Earth,” severely restricts essentials like fuel and medicine, makes travel in and out all but impossible, and exercises complete control over its borders, airspace, and seas, the pretense of “security” seems dubious at best, and suggests that turning Gazans into beggars and Gaza into a “depoliticized humanitarian catastrophe” is precisely the plan.”

I can not adequately express my sense of frustration, sadness, bewilderment and shock when I think of the profound silence and seeming indifference of the White House to the plight of the Gazans, and especially to the plight of Gaza’s children.

Thank you very much, President Jimmy Carter, for expressing your thoughts.

Yesh Prabhu, Plainsboro, NJ

I have heard with great interest Obama’s words, and watched his actions with a sinking feeling in my heart, regarding his plan for peace in the Middle East. Reluctantly, I have come to the conclusion that mere negotiations will not resolve this deep-rooted conflict. Forty years’ negotiations have culminated in the tragedy and horrors of the Gaza War; forty more years of negotiations will also fail to resolve this conflict. We need only to look at history: what happened in South Africa. Forty years of diplomacy and negotiations, including Ronald Reagan’s “quiet diplomacy” did not end South Africa’s apartheid; only the world-wide economic embargo, sanctioned by the UN, ended the apartheid that flourished for 46 years from1948 to 1994. Israel’s apartheid against the Palestinians will also end only when the “boycott Israel” movement gathers momentum and spreads around the world. I am aware that the UN will not pass any resolution against Israel because Obama will most certainly veto it. The “Boycott Israel” movement seems to be gathering momentum around the world, and sooner or later the tide will turn for the Palestinians.

I have read a wonderful article by Prof. Richard Falk, titled: Why the Goldstone Report matters. In it he says essentially what I have said, that the Israel-Palestine conflict will end only through the imposition of an economic embargo or a boycott: “Its (Goldstone Report’s) impact will be felt most impressively on the growing civil society movement throughout the world to impose cultural, sporting, and academic boycotts, as well as to discourage investment, trade, and tourism with Israel. It may yet be the case that as in the anti-apartheid struggle the shift in the relation of forces in the Palestinian favor will occur not through diplomacy or as a result of armed resistance, but on the symbolic battlefield of legitimacy that has become global in scope, what might be described as the new political relevance of moral and legal globalization.”

I enjoyed reading your article also.

Yesh Prabhu, Plainsboro, NJ

Unfortunately I have no information about the source for the extra text in the Congress resolution, which you refer to.

Is it possible for you to contact Professor Zunes through FPIF. Perhaps he may be able to shed some light on the matter.

http://pathofmostresistance.org/congress-resolution-867-where-politics-meets-war-crimes/

Do you know where this extra text came from. I’ve read the whole Goldstone Report and done computer searches through the document and havent found that specific text. Were Congress using a different document?

You are probably correct that Bill Clinton did not try to really resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict as an impartial arbiter. He is a strong, pro-Israel Zionist. But President Jimmy Carter certainly did. No one should doubt Jimmy Carter’s sense of fairness towards the Palestinians. He was vilified by the Washington Post and the Jewish Lobby when his book “Palestine: Peace, not Apartheid” was published in 2007.

As I wrote in one of my comments, it seems to me that President Obama has voluntarily put a leather collar around his neck and handed over the leash attached to it to the AIPAC.

But where there is will, there is a way, as they say. This is what I suggest that he should do; if he follows my suggestions, he will occupy a place on a pedestal next to the great American president Lincoln.

1. Address the nation on prime time TV that he will neither seek nor accept nomination for second term as President. This will immediately free him from the clutches of not only AIPAC and other Jewish lobbies, but from the clutches of all other special interest lobbies such as the Insurance, Healthcare, Banking, Farming, and Real Estate lobbies. I am aware that the Democratic congressmen and senators might not like such an act.

2. In his TV address he should behave as President Franklin D Roosevelt did in his famous fireside chats, look straight at the camera and tell all the lobbyists, “You can go to hell. I am not seeking another term. But in the next three years, as president, I shall do only that which is right and just and moral.”

3. He can then address the UN General Assembly regarding his grand plan for the creation of Palestine, as I have elaborated in my article.

Am I dreaming? Perhaps; but what a wonderful dream it is!

If he does this, Americans would rally behind him, and a stunned world, after recovering from initial severe shock, will rally behind him also. I know that he has the potential in him to be the next Martin Luther King if only he listens to his conscience, and not to his Zionist political advisers. He should leave politics out the door.

Am I being too idealistic? Perhaps; but if I were President Obama, I would certainly do so.

Yesh Prabhu, Plainsboro, NJ

Unfortunately, things for President Obama are not so easy. Even if he wanted to do as Mr Prabhu suggests, the power of Israel and Israeli/Zionist Lobby in the United States is too strong. Within his administration, pro-Zionists have the upper-hand – Biden, Clintons (Hillary + Bill), etc.

Many political observers must have noticed how during the course of the last few days the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has tried to nullify what President Obama had declared an important condition in resolving the conflict: Israeli freeze on its further settlements activity in the Occupied Palestinian land. But what happened? Clinton praised Netanyahu for his criminal land grab and pledged continued American support for Israeli colonization! Such are the facts about American power and its Middle East foreign policy.

What this shows is clear. The Neo-Conservatives, the Bushites, and Zionists control the foreign policy of the Obama administration. This is an important fact to remember for understanding the present situation. The American president has no magic wand to change all that even if he wanted to. But there are too many questions about Obama and Israeli/Zionist connection that need to be looked into.

The view that President Clinton tried his best to resolve the conflict is not correct. He was a strong pro-Israel Christian fundamentalist who tried his best to use his imperial power to impose the US-Zionist will on the Palestinian people. But PA President Arafat rejected such coercive pressure and deception. He was eliminated by the Zionists for good.

I agree with your statement that Obama needs fresh plan to restart Arab-Israeli peace talks after humiliating failure. Five months ago, on May 31, 2009, I wrote this on my blog: http://asanevoiceforpeaceinthemiddleeast.blogspot.com
Forty years of negotiation for peace has ended in the devastation of the Gaza War. Relying only on negotiations to achieve peace is not likely to succeed. Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton tried their best to resolve the conflict through elaborate negotiations. I believe that there is a much better way to achieve peace in the Middle East. It involves only three simple steps:

1. President Obama should declare that his administration recognizes Palestine bounded by the 1966 (pre-1967) border, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

2. President Obama should ask both the United Nations Security Council and the UN General Assembly to vote for the creation of Palestine and declare that the UN recognizes Palestine bounded by the 1966 border. The UN should ask all occupying foreign powers to vacate Palestine. The Israelis who wish to continue to live in Palestine must apply for permission from the Palestinian government to live there as immigrants. After five years the Israeli settlers could become eligible for Palestinian citizenship just as immigrants to the US become eligible for American citizenship after five years’ residency.

3. The UN should ask Israel to relocate the wall Israel has built encroaching Palestinian ancestral land to its internationally recognized borders (1966 or Pre-1967).
Presto!

Other nations from around the world can start recognizing Palestine, and send their ambassadors to East Jerusalem. Let the US be the first nation to recognize the free and independent Palestine.

I know that there are ten thousand and one suggestions and peace plans for the Middle East on the Internet from various organizations and columnists and politicians for resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict. I know also that the chance of President Obama’s reading about my “Peace Plan” is infinitesimally small. But who can predict? Lightning does strike occasionally, when least expected.

I hope that President Obama will succeed in his efforts to resolve the conflict. Peace in that region is desperately needed. King Abdullah of Jordan has predicted that if Israelis and Palestinians do not sign a peace treaty soon, a major war will erupt in the region in 12 to 18 months. And President Obama seems to concur with that statement.
Yesh Prabhu, Plainsboro, NJ

The irony is that Obama knows what is the right thing to do in each case. He has the answer. But he is quite reluctant to do what needs to be done.

At the rate Israel is building the settlements, I am afraid very soon there will be no contiguous land available for Palestinians to establish their independent state. It will be a great tragedy if the Palestinians are forced to live under indefinite occupation, in a state of permanent servitude to Israel, with USA’s collusion.
Yesh Prabhu, Plainsboro, NJ