On Obama and Settlements

Barack Obama: Arrogant.

Barack Obama: Despicable.

Barack Obama: Muslim?

The other day, as I do every day, I rode to work on Jerusalem’s bus #28.  The commute is usually long and tedious, and only made palatable by the sounds of my iPod.  On this specific morning, I found myself sitting behind two elderly women.  Normally I would’ve paid them no mind, but as the bus crawled through Jerusalem’s congested streets, they struck up a conversation in English, and I quickly found myself listening in.

Soon after exchanging pleasantries – the first woman was from Britain and had made Aliyah some 30 years ago, while the other, presumably American, had lived here for a decade – their morning banter turned to politics.  More specifically, it turned to U.S. President Barack Obama, who that day was hosting Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu at the White House.  Their conversation quickly turned south, becoming little more than an Obama hatefest.

Ignoring for a second their altogether incorrect information, the women’s argument boiled down to the following: Obama is anti-Israel and anti-Semitic.  He does not care about Jews, siding unequivocally with the Palestinians, and he ignorantly – and arrogantly – believes he knows what’s best for the region.

According to the older of the two, he’s also a Muslim, which in the eyes of too many, immediately disqualifies him from rational thought, nevermind that it’s not actually true.  Quite simply, Obama is just another in a long line of anti-Semitic international leaders bent on destroying the Jewish state.

Yes, it seems the Tea Party – or perhaps the Manischewitz Party – is alive and well in eretz yisrael.  Buoyed by unyielding nationalism and a Bush-esque sentiment of ‘us vs. them,’ the attacks on Obama are growing stronger and stronger each day (though his approval rating within Israel did double recently, to a whopping 9 percent).  And just like it’s U.S. counterpart, the movement seems to be led by a sensationalistic media.

Consider this piece, entitled Will Obama ignite 3rd intifada? by Daniel Gordis.  While the headline is certainly captivating, his argument holds no water.  Gordis seems to believe that since many settlements – neighborhoods, as he calls them – have been around for decades, they should essentially be left to their own devices.  No restrictions, no construction freezes, nothing.  Apparently, in Gordis’ eyes, the status quo has been doing wonders for the peace process.

To really see the faulty logic here, imagine the following: Gazans begin building ‘neighborhoods’ on Israeli land near Sderot (ignoring the absolute impossibility of this ever happening).  These settlements are controlled by Palestinian leadership and are, despite being in Israeli territory, in no way beholden to the Israeli government.  After a few decades of growth and consequently, Israeli and international condemnation, the Gazans refuse to give up their land on the grounds that they’ve been here for decades, and the towns are established.  Why should they have to stop ‘natural’ growth?

Surely, Israelis would never stand for this.  The settlements are a blatant confiscation of land; anyone can see that.  Established or not, these settlements would cause an outrage among Israelis.  Gordis should be asking readers, in the wake of yet another construction announcement , will Netanyahu ignite 3rd intifada?  Whether the zealots believe it or not, this is the far more apt question.

Sam Melamed is a Masa participant, participating in Career Israel, one of Masa Israel‘s 160 programs.