President Obama, you must vote for Palestine now

Since President Truman, none of the American presidents have had the balls to take a stand and do the right thing; facilitate a lasting solution for the conflict between Israel and Palestine. The talk of two states remains a hoax without recognition of Palestine as a nation. It is a necessity for the security of Israel to recognize Palestine; it will tie the loose ends.

Two videos:..

MR. PRESIDENT, YOU MUST VOTE FOR PALESTINE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNYmI6MlhZw

YES TO PALESTINE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WA2NlDU-LM

Sixty three years have been squandered with no signs of genuine security for the Jews; they have been living with an unsettling fear and have been on-the-run for their whole history. Not a week goes by where Anti-Semitism is not countered in Europe, it is there in Latin America and it is there in Asia.
The Jews have not been able to breathe freely. There is a genuine phobia that someday a segment of radical Christians will uproot them as Germany did in the recent past and Spain some five hundred years ago, those were the only nations where the Jews felt home twice in their history but were betrayed both the times.

Shamelessly, anti-Semitism continues to operate under the radar in the United States. Not a month passes here in the United States without the markings of Anti-Semitism. Some one’s house is painted with Swastika, someone yells at them “you people” or opens the fire in the Holocaust Museum or demonstrates hateful placards like “Christ Killers”, there are still a few Christians out there who cannot shake this off from their chests.

Shame on our civilization that one group of people has to live in apprehensions of the other. It is just not the Jews but many a minorities in the world live in fears of the other. Shouldn’t we feel bad about it? Are we evil that someone has to be afraid of us? It has got to change.

Recognition of Palestine will put an end to the phobias and fears. The Jewish anxieties will subside when they realize for the second time in their history (first one was creation of Israel) that they are able to live a life of justice, which is a central tenet of Judaism that they had abandoned for security. It will free their psyche. It will have a domino effect, one by one, the Arab nations will recognize Israel’s right to exist over a few years. It simply means acceptance of Israel and a welcome call to the neighborhood.

The real enemies of Israel are those who are milking monies in the name of Israel. It is business to them, they are the Madoffs whose sincerity to Israel is doubtful but loyalty to cashing in the name of Israel is certain. They are manipulators and constantly coerce our congress and senate and get their way. Heck, they have made it worse for Israel by aggravating the conflicts.

The Judeo-Christian phrase was thrown around 40's to make up for the guilt. A whole industry of opportunists was born from that. The two faced support for Jews by Billy Graham, Richard Nixon, Pat Robertson, John Hagee, Glenn Beck and other chest thumpers had ulterior motives. They wanted to cash in on the name of Israel and perhaps convert them or pre-empt God for the Armageddon.

Jews need sincerity and not duplicity to feel secure. A genuine security is like a child in mother’s lap; safe and free from fears. Jews need to feel there is a home for them, where they can chat with friends in a café and carry on conversations without any fear, have zero fears for their school going children or ride the bus without fear. More than that, Jews can live their life again as they wanted to; to be a just people.

All of that is possible once the Palestinians feel justice is finally served to them. Shame on our cvilization, we have not cared for the lives of Palestinians, they are deprived of the very basics of life; a home and a nationality. We have stripped them from their hopes, it will change with this recognition.

President Obama has an opportunity to finalizing the transaction for Israel which was opened by President Truman. Prior to President Truman’s decision to recognize Israel, he was vehemently opposed by many in his administration including the Secretary of State George Marshall, Truman was threatened that his administration will be wrecked, indeed “the wise men” firmly opposed recognition of Israel. Did Truman budge?

President Obama will be equally hounded by Fox News and the right wingers. He has a choice to stand up and act with courage and become a one term president with balls and leave a lasting legacy of bringing genuine security to Israel and hope for the Palestinians.

If President Obama vetoes for Palestinian Statehood, he will do more damage to America’s stature in the community of nations besides keeping Israel in the state of anxiety until another Truman is born.

Let’s recognize Palestine and continue the peace process. It will abate the strife between Jews and Muslims and restore the cordiality that existed prior to the World War I. It is good for Israel, good for Palestine, good for America and good for the Middle East and the World.

Mike Ghouse is committed to building cohesive Societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day to the media and the public. He is a speaker thinker and a writer on the topics of pluralism, cohesive societies, Politics, Islam, interfaith, India and Peace. Over a thousand articles have been published on the topics and two of his books are poised to be released on Pluralism and Islam. Mike's work is reflected in 4 website's and 27 Blogs indexed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/ and you can find all of his current articles at www.TheGhousediary.com

Fox News, Sean Hannity and Mike Ghouse on Israel

How Does Palestine's Statehood Ambitions Affect Israel, U.S.?
Published September 19, 2011 | Hannity | Sean Hannity
Special Guests: Michael Ghouse, Lisa Daftari

http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/hannity/2011/09/20/how-does-palestines-statehood-ambitions-affect-israel-us?page=1

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," September 19, 2011. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: And the 66th session of the U.N. General Assembly is now underway and that means, of course, that the world's most depraved dictators are parading through the streets of New York City.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/hannity/2011/09/20/how-does-palestines-statehood-ambitions-affect-israel-us#ixzz1YWgcUK9I

According to the New York Post, Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may use the opportunity to dine with Columbia students. I guess for that Ivy League institution one run in with the biggest terror sponsor in the Middle East was not enough, now they are back for more.

Meanwhile, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas will use his time in New York to lobby the U.N. for a Palestinian state. Given the amount of energy that they've put into terrorism, suicide bombing over the past several years, I think we can all admit they deserve to be given this? I don't think so.

The U.S. plans to veto any bid for a Palestinian statehood despite Jimmy Carter's pleas to the contrary.

Joining me now with reaction to all of this, the president of America Coming Together, Michael Ghouse is back with us. Journalist, also is with us.,Lisa Daftari is here.

Guys, thanks for being with us. Michael, let me start with you.

All right, here you have Abbas, aligned with Hamas. Hamas' charter calls for the destruction of Israel. Hamas involved in all this terror. They deny the right of Israel to even exist.

You tell me, based -- basically what we are describing as a terror organization. Why should they be allowed by the United Nations, why should there be a Palestinian statehood, unless and until, they denounce terror and disassociate themselves from terror groups, why?

MIKE GHOUSE, AMERICA COMING TOGETHER FOUNDATION: Well, it is a legitimate thing to Israel and Palestinians have been talking with each other as Israelis and Palestinians. It is given.

HANNITY: Michael, you're not answering the question. Michael, simple question. If they support terror groups that deny Israel the right to exist, why should they be recognized with a Palestinian state?

GHOUSE: Well, why shouldn't they?

HANNITY: Because they support terror. That's why.

GHOUSE: Sean, we have to find peace. If you keep hanging on to those words that Hamas is a terror organization, when are you going to achieve peace?

HANNITY: So you want peace with the terror group. Do you think you can have peace with terrorists that want to wipe Israel off the map like Ahmadinejad? What are you going to say to them if you meet with them? You're going to say please be nice?

GHOUSE: Israel is a very strong country and they got our full support they don't need to worry. There is nothing wrong in extending the hand of friendship. If they fail, we have the power to deal with it. But by stretching our hands, we have an opportunity to bring peace.

HANNITY: The United States would not sit down with a group of people that call for our destruction. Lisa, will they?

LISA DAFTARI, MIDDLE EAST EXPERT: No, they wouldn't. You know what? Coming to the U.N. and declaring statehood does not make a state. You have negotiations you have to sit down with two equal parties that are coming there wanting it and then there's going to be agreement.

HANNITY: Why do you think that there's a willingness for so many people to overlook state sponsor terrorism out of Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic Jihad. Why are people so unwilling to recognize these groups for what they are, terror organizations that want to destroy the west?

DAFTARI: Right, so we're in this --

GHOUSE: Because their drive is to bring peace.

HANNITY: I asked Lisa that question. Hang on. Lisa --

DAFTARI: No, because -- right now, we are trying to be politically correct and everyone has to be fair. Israel has a nuclear bomb, Iran needs one too. I mean, Israel is a state and now the Palestinian need to be a state also.

But what we are not understanding here is that, you know, coming to the U.N. and declaring statehood is not going to be beneficial to anybody. It's going to be negative even for the Palestinian people.

I wonder if Mike could agree to that because what is going to happen is that there is going to be more frustration because we are not coming to it out of an agreement.

For 2-1/2 years we haven't had any progression in the peace process. We've had President Obama asking for freezing in settlements. We've had him asking Israel to go back to '67 borders.

Now Mahmoud Abbas feels compelled, why shouldn't I come and ask for statehood? What is going to happen, the Palestinians, almost Christmas Eve for them thinking they are going to get a state.

HANNITY: But the question is, look at the New York 9th election, the second biggest voting constituency for the president was Jewish-Americans. He's losing that vote. So is the president going to try to make a big show supporting Israel? And is it a show considering how badly he treated Netanyahu, the prime minister?

DAFTARI: Well, it is a show and it's not a show. It is a show because he's doing it because he wants to be reelected. I absolutely agree with you with that. He has to scale back now that he has called for the '67 borders, and that was a huge mistake as everybody knows. But also I think no one else is going to support it. I mean, not within the Security Council.

HANNITY: You are right.

DAFTARI: But in the general assembly, we are actually going to pick up a few enemies this week because within the general assembly there will be people.

HANNITY: Michael, I'm going to give you the last word here.

Explain to me again, Michael, what you would say to Abbas, to Fatah, to Hamas in their charter they call for the destruction of Israel? Why should the Israelis sit down with them unless and until they recognize Israel's right to exist, the simple basic fundamental principle if you want if get along?

GHOUSE: First of all, Abbas, they do recognize Israel's right to exist.

HANNITY: No, they do not. Hamas does not. In their charter calls for their destruction.

GHOUSE: But Abbas is representing the whole Palestinians --

HANNITY: But Abbas and Hamas are aligned.

GHOUSE: Abbas is supported by the United States and Israel.

HANNITY: A mistake.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/hannity/2011/09/20/how-does-palestines-statehood-ambitions-affect-israel-us#ixzz1YWgTmz6Z

GHOUSE: We need to listen to him. He's trying to bring a change in Hamas.

HANNITY: You're dreaming. You're dreaming.

GHOUSE: We have to try to give him all the tools we can -- I'm not dreaming, Sean. It's going to happen.

HANNITY: You have lost your mind.

GHOUSE: We cannot push people, if we push them, they're going to take a stand. We need give them an opportunity to bring peace.

HANNITY: All right, thank you Michael. Thank you, Lisa.

GHOUSE: Good thing for U.S., good thing for Israel, good thing for America.

HANNITY: All right, guys, good to see you.

Content and Programming Copyright 2011 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2011 CQ-Roll Call, Inc. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of CQ-Roll Call. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content

# # #

Not Israel but Israeli leaders responsible for Isolation.

Not Israel but Israeli leaders responsible for Isolation. http://www.voanews.com/english/news/polls/

9/18/2011 2:17 PM

# Is Israel’s growing isolation in the Middle East due to anti-Israel sentiments, its own actions and policies or a combination of both?

Anti-Israel sentiments in Middle East
24% (519)

Its own actions and policies
46% (992)

Combination of both
27% (594)

Not sure
1% (30)

Total Votes : 2135
Not a Scientific Poll

Do you support the Palestinians’ recognition bid at the United Nations?

Yes
60% (310)

No
36% (187)

Not sure
2% (15)

Total Votes : 512

Robert Fisk: Why the Middle East will never be the same again - Fisk

A good paragraph to read, “But it had been the UN, which met to decide the fate of Palestine on 29 November 1947, which gave Israel its legitimacy, the Americans being the first to vote for its creation. Now – by a supreme irony of history – it is Israel which wishes to prevent the UN from giving Palestinian Arabs their legitimacy – and it is America which will be the first to veto such a legitimacy.”

Robert Fisk: Why the Middle East will never be the same again

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-why-the-middle-east-will-never-be-the-same-again-2357514.html

The Palestinians won't achieve statehood, but they will consign the 'peace process' to history.

Tuesday, 20 September 2011

The Palestinians won't get a state this week. But they will prove – if they get enough votes in the General Assembly and if Mahmoud Abbas does not succumb to his characteristic grovelling in the face of US-Israeli power – that they are worthy of statehood. And they will establish for the Arabs what Israel likes to call – when it is enlarging its colonies on stolen land – "facts on the ground": never again can the United States and Israel snap their fingers and expect the Arabs to click their heels. The US has lost its purchase on the Middle East. It's over: the "peace process", the "road map", the "Oslo agreement"; the whole fandango is history.

Personally, I think "Palestine" is a fantasy state, impossible to create now that the Israelis have stolen so much of the Arabs' land for their colonial projects. Go take a look at the West Bank, if you don't believe me. Israel's massive Jewish colonies, its pernicious building restrictions on Palestinian homes of more than one storey and its closure even of sewage systems as punishment, the "cordons sanitaires" beside the Jordanian frontier, the Israeli-only settlers' roads have turned the map of the West Bank into the smashed windscreen of a crashed car. Sometimes, I suspect that the only thing that prevents the existence of "Greater Israel" is the obstinacy of those pesky Palestinians.

But we are now talking of much greater matters. This vote at the UN – General Assembly or Security Council, in one sense it hardly matters – is going to divide the West – Americans from Europeans and scores of other nations – and it is going to divide the Arabs from the Americans. It is going to crack open the divisions in the European Union; between eastern and western Europeans, between Germany and France (the former supporting Israel for all the usual historical reasons, the latter sickened by the suffering of the Palestinians) and, of course, between Israel and the EU.

A great anger has been created in the world by decades of Israeli power and military brutality and colonisation; millions of Europeans, while conscious of their own historical responsibility for the Jewish Holocaust and well aware of the violence of Muslim nations, are no longer cowed in their criticism for fear of being abused as anti-Semites. There is racism in the West – and always will be, I fear – against Muslims and Africans, as well as Jews. But what are the Israeli settlements on the West Bank, in which no Arab Muslim Palestinian can live, but an expression of racism?

Israel shares in this tragedy, of course. Its insane government has led its people on this road to perdition, adequately summed up by its sullen fear of democracy in Tunisia and Egypt – how typical that its principle ally in this nonsense should be the awful Saudi Arabia – and its cruel refusal to apologise for the killing of nine Turks in the Gaza flotilla last year and its equal refusal to apologise to Egypt for the killing of five of its policemen during a Palestinian incursion into Israel.

So goodbye to its only regional allies, Turkey and Egypt, in the space of scarcely 12 months. Israel's cabinet is composed both of intelligent, potentially balanced people such as Ehud Barak, and fools such as Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, the Ahmadinejad of Israeli politics. Sarcasm aside, Israelis deserve better than this.

The State of Israel may have been created unjustly – the Palestinian Diaspora is proof of this – but it was created legally. And its founders were perfectly capable of doing a deal with King Abdullah of Jordan after the 1948-49 war to divide Palestine between Jews and Arabs. But it had been the UN, which met to decide the fate of Palestine on 29 November 1947, which gave Israel its legitimacy, the Americans being the first to vote for its creation. Now – by a supreme irony of history – it is Israel which wishes to prevent the UN from giving Palestinian Arabs their legitimacy – and it is America which will be the first to veto such a legitimacy.

Does Israel have a right to exist? The question is a tired trap, regularly and stupidly trotted out by Israel's so-called supporters; to me, too, on regular though increasingly fewer occasions. States – not humans – give other states the right to exist. For individuals to do so, they have to see a map. For where exactly, geographically, is Israel? It is the only nation on earth which does not know and will not declare where its eastern frontier is. Is it the old UN armistice line, the 1967 border so beloved of Abbas and so hated by Netanyahu, or the Palestinian West Bank minus settlements, or the whole of the West Bank?

Show me a map of the United Kingdom which includes England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and it has the right to exist. But show me a map of the UK which claims to include the 26 counties of independent Ireland in the UK and shows Dublin to be a British rather than an Irish city, and I will say no, this nation does not have the right to exist within these expanded frontiers. Which is why, in the case of Israel, almost every Western embassy, including the US and British embassies, are in Tel Aviv, not in Jerusalem.

In the new Middle East, amid the Arab Awakening and the revolt of free peoples for dignity and freedom, this UN vote – passed in the General Assembly, vetoed by America if it goes to the Security Council – constitutes a kind of hinge; not just a page turning, but the failure of empire. So locked into Israel has US foreign policy become, so fearful of Israel have almost all its Congressmen and Congresswomen become – to the extent of loving Israel more than America – that America will this week stand out not as the nation that produced Woodrow Wilson and his 14 principles of self-determination, not as the country which fought Nazism and Fascism and Japanese militarism, not as the beacon of freedom which, we are told, its Founding Fathers represented – but as a curmudgeonly, selfish, frightened state whose President, after promising a new affection for the Muslim world, is forced to support an occupying power against a people who only ask for statehood.

Should we say "poor old Obama", as I have done in the past? I don't think so. Big on rhetoric, vain, handing out false love in Istanbul and Cairo within months of his election, he will this week prove that his re-election is more important than the future of the Middle East, that his personal ambition to stay in power must take first place over the sufferings of an occupied people. In this context alone, it is bizarre that a man of such supposed high principle should show himself so cowardly. In the new Middle East, in which Arabs are claiming the very same rights and freedoms that Israel and America say they champion, this is a profound tragedy.

US failures to stand up to Israel and to insist on a fair peace in "Palestine", abetted by the hero of the Iraq war, Blair, are responsible. Arabs too, for allowing their dictators to last so long and thus to clog the sand with false frontiers and old dogmas and oil (and let's not believe that a "new" "Palestine" would be a paradise for its own people). Israel, too, when it should be welcoming the Palestinian demand for statehood at the UN with all its obligations of security and peace and recognition of other UN members. But no. The game is lost. America's political power in the Middle East will this week be neutered on behalf of Israel. Quite a sacrifice in the name of liberty...

Perry tacks far right on Israel-Palestine

Perry is a major disappointement to me today. Has he used his own brain to see what is good for America,  good for Israel, good for Palestine and good for the world? I am not happy with his take on justice. He is fallen to the real enemies of Israel who want to keep Israel in anxieties for ever instead of finding freedom for them and justice for the Palestinians.  Shame on you Perry.

Mike Ghouse

http://www.salon.com/news/israel/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2011/09/20/rick_perry_israel_event\

At a press conference with Jewish leaders and an Israeli official in New York this morning, Rick Perry staked out ground as one of the most hardline supporters of the Israeli right-wing in the GOP presidential field.

"It is time to change our policy of appeasement toward the Palestinians to strengthen our ties to the nation of Israel, and in the process establish a robust American position in the Middle East characterized by a new firmness and a new resolve," he said.

Appearing at the press conference at the W hotel off Union Square, Perry was joined by Danny Danon, the deputy speaker of the Knesset, a prominent supporter of the Jewish settler movement, and an avowed opponent of a two-state solution. Also in attendance was Bob Turner, the Republican who won Anthony Weiner's old seat in Congress a special election last week in which Israel was a major issue.

Perry, for his part, said he supports a two-state solution. But when it got into specific policy matters, he tacked to the right. In response to a question, he said he supports continued Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank. That's a break from the longstanding policy of administrations of both parties. Perry also said his interpretation of Christianity requires him to support the state of Israel.

In his prepared remarks, he said the U.S. "will have to reconsider" aid to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank if it goes forward with a bid to seek recognition from the U.N. Some pro-Israel groups have been nervous about the prospect of cutting aid to the PA and especially its security forces, which are seen as helpful to Israel in the occupied West Bank

Perry also called for the shutting down of the Palestinian Liberation Organization office in Washington if the U.N. recognizes a state of Palestine.

He received enthusiastic praise from New York state assemblyman and hardline pro-Israel figure Dov Hikind, who said Perry's speech reminded him of himself.

"You can't be right on everything but wrong on Israel," Hikind said, summing up the mood in the room."We will not support you if you're wrong on Israel."

Here's the full exchange about settlements from the question-and-answer portion of the event.

Q: Can you explain what your policy in a Perry administration would be toward the settlements?

PERRY: From the standpoint of the settlements, those need to be negotiated directly with the state of Israel. If the United States needs to be sitting in and being part of that solution or in those negotiations, certainly we would lend the hand. But at the end of the day those are about the sovereign nation of Israel making the decisions about those lands.

Now the issue of how we have a state of the Palestinian people, that is direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian people, and it can't be accomplished in any way.

Q: Should the Israelis be allowed to continue building?

PERRY: I think so.

At that point Perry said something else but it was drowned out by loud applause from the crowd. He did not address the distinction between so called "natural growth" within existing settlement blocs versus building entirely new settlements (a point raised by Blake Hounshell).

I've asked his campaign for elaboration of his views, and I will update this post if I hear back.

Here's the exchange on Christianity and Israel:

QUESTION: To what extent do you view America protecting Israeli as a theological priority?

PERRY: Well obviously Israel is our oldest and most stable democratic ally in the region. That is what this is about. I also as a Christian have a clear directive to support Israel. So from my perspective both as an American and as a Christian, I am going to stand with Israel. As I said in my remarks, Israel is not a perfect country. But you will find me not only welcoming the prime minister of Israel -- whoever that individual may be -- in the appropriate manner to the White House. But I will be standing with Israel. And the people of Israel and the people of this world will never question where I stand.

Perry also promised that, if he is president, "If you want to work for the State Department, you will be working in Jerusalem." That's a reference to moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to the disputed city of Jerusalem. For years, presidential candidates have made -- and subsequently broken -- that very promise.

• Justin Elliott is a Salon reporter. Reach him by email at jelliott@salon.com and follow him on Twitter @ElliottJustin More: Justin Elliott

Obama should support Palestinian statehood

If the president wants to foster peace and be on the right side of history, he must back the Palestinian U.N. bid

http://www.salon.com/news/global_post/index.html?story=/news/feature/2011/09/20/obama_palestine_statehood

This article originally appeared on GlobalPost.

BOSTON -- President Obama should not veto Palestinian national aspirations in the United Nations Security Council.

The president is not wrong in thinking that this would be better handled in negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel. It would be wonderful if Israel itself were to sponsor a Palestinian state, but this is not going to happen as long as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in power.

He has spent his entire career trying to avoid Palestinian statehood with delaying tactics and maneuvers -- seemingly willing to negotiate everything anywhere, but in reality putting up every obstacle he can in the path of peace and permanent settlement with the Palestinians.

Not that the Palestinians are guiltless in this stand off. They have had offers and opportunities they have not taken. But the entire Middle East is now in a state of flux and transition, and, as a practical matter, to try to keep the Palestinians frozen in their status as an occupied people without political rights is to ask for serious trouble -- both for Israel and the U.S. The next Intifada will be far more destructive than the last two.

As a moral matter it is simply time to let the Palestinians have their state just as Harry Truman recognized that the Jews, after all they had been through in Europe in World War II, should have their state in 1948.

Many Israelis understand this. Former Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told The New York Times that "the world is tired of this conflict and angry at us because we are viewed as conquerors, ruling over another people. If I were Bibi Netanyahu I would recognize a Palestinian State. We would then negotiate borders and security." But Netanyahu comes from the so-called "Revisionist" wing of Zionism that is reluctant to give up any part of what they consider the biblical land of Israel.

• Continue reading

When David Ben Gurion on May 14th, 1948, declared that the state of Israel would come into being at midnight, America responded with de-facto recognition almost immediately. But the Soviet Union came through first with de-jure recognition, something the U.S. did not grant until an elected government had been formed in January of 1949.

Even with the two superpowers onboard, the U.N. Security Council did not grant Israel U.N. membership until May 11, 1949 -- a full year after the state was declared -- and after a long fight to physically secure its borders.

Palestine might come into being in reverse order -- declare sovereignty now, gain admittance to the U.N., and then negotiate the borders with Israel, as Ben-Eliezer suggested.

There are many who say there are dangers involved in a Palestinian state, and they are right, just as those in Truman's State Department, including George C. Marshall, were right in warning that the creation of a Jewish state would cause a sea of troubles.

And there are those who say that the Palestinian problem is exaggerated, that it doesn't really matter if they remain an occupied people, because giving them their freedom would not solve all the issues of the Middle East or placate Islamic extremists. And they, too, are right. Giving the Palestinians their state would not solve all the issues of the Middle East, but it would surely help. Again and again, year in and year out, the centrality of the Palestinian problem never goes away. Even General David Petraeus, from his command post in Afghanistan, recognized that Israel's occupation of the Palestinians was hurting America's war efforts as far away as Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Richard Perle and David Frum, in their book, "An End to Evil, How to Win the War on Terror," submit that "in the Arab and Muslim World, the Palestinian issue has never been about compassion, mercy, or even justice. First and always, this issue has been about vengeance…", i.e., "the destruction of Israel and the re-conquest of the Holy Land." This might be true of some, but this is akin to saying the Jews in Israel want to take over Jordan just because that was an original "revisionist" goal back in 1947, or because David Ben Gurion once put feelers out to the British and French in 1956 that Jordan should be divided up between Israel and Iraq. Yes, some Arabs still might want to destroy Israel, just as some Israelis want to expel all the Palestinians, but that does not represent the vast majority nor government policy in either Israel or the Arab world.

The Obama administration tried its best to talk the Palestinians out of going to the United Nations to legitimize their state but failed. Given the administration's record, this failure was entirely predictable. Obama came into office seeming to promise a renewed energy toward trying to solve the Palestinian problem, following President Bush's near-total support for whatever Israel wanted.

Obama went eyeball to eyeball with Netanyahu over settlements, and the Palestinians saw that Obama blinked first. It was obvious then that Obama might talk a good game, but that the Israeli tail was always going to wag the American dog. The sight of Netanyahu who, having defied and insulted the American president, addressing a joint session of Congress with congressmen and senators of both parties jumping to their feet like jack-in-the-boxes to show their support, was all anyone needed to understand Israel's power in the American Congress.

The Democratic Party has to be mindful of pro-Zionist political support. But it is in America's strategic interest, and ultimately in Israel's interest too, to lance the boil of the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

If it was the right thing to do to recognize the state of Israel when it was first born, it is time now to grant the same rights and privileges to the Palestinian people. The Obama administration is always talking about being on the right side of history in the Middle East. The United States could abstain, if it must, but vetoing Palestinian nationalist aspirations would put us on the wrong side of history.

Palestine exists and Israel exists, just say it they do.

Palestinians talk about Israelis and Israelis talk about Palestinians, yet the dumb idiotic leadership has difficulty in saying it out loud. Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Abbas, quit playing the damn games and simply acknowledge and move on. May God bless you guys with a single mouth each. There are nearly 30 articles on the topic at the site www.IsraelPalestineDialouge.com, I have selected a few:

........
You might find this video intriguing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WA2NlDU-LM

.......
The one time President can do some good before he is out, have the guts to recognize Palestine, it is good for Israel, good for Palestine, good for the Middle East and good for the United States.
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Mr. President, you must vote for Palestine now

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNYmI6MlhZw

....Mike Ghouse - President Obama, have the balls to do the right thing. http://israel-palestine-dialogue.blogspot.com/2011/09/president-obama-you-must-vote-for_18.html

....
Dr. Hanan Ashrawi - A good documentary on history of the conflictshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWODGWlpcIQ

Any normal human will not be able to see the attrocities of occupation. The Jewish people need to be free from their own bondage of hate.

....

Jew Settlers Stoning Palestine Children walking to school
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1ovdA1VZ-c&NR=1

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A Video Israel didn't Want Published from CBC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=4pJDR_AALE0

THE BASICS - MORE VIDEOS AT THE END

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Mike Ghouse - Basic Solutionshttp://israel-palestine-dialogue.blogspot.com/2009/09/solutions-for-israel-and-palestine.html

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MJ Rosenberg - Israel shooting its own foothttp://israel-palestine-dialogue.blogspot.com/2011/09/israel-shooting-in-its-own-foot-mj.html

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Uri Avnery on the Votehttp://israel-palestine-dialogue.blogspot.com/2011/09/uri-avnery-on-palestinian-vote.html

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Gideon Levy - Obama's Unique opportunityhttp://israel-palestine-dialogue.blogspot.com/2011/09/obamas-unique-opportunity-by-gideon.html

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Eric Morgolis - September Madnesshttp://israel-palestine-dialogue.blogspot.com/2011/09/september-madness-eric-margolis.html

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Adam Lebor - Israel should be the first to recognize Palestinehttp://israel-palestine-dialogue.blogspot.com/2011/09/israel-should-be-first-to-recognise.html

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Reza Aslan - Yes to Palestinehttp://israel-palestine-dialogue.blogspot.com/2011/09/yes-to-palestine-reza-aslan.html

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Rabbi Lerner - Recognize Israel

http://israel-palestine-dialogue.blogspot.com/2011/09/recognize-palestine-rabbi-lerner.html

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Jewish teenager violently arrested for speaking truth about Palestine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDNMVYjAilY&feature=player_embedded

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Mike Ghouse is committed to building a cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day to the media and the public. He is a speaker thinker and a writer on the topics of pluralism, cohesive societies, Politics, Islam, interfaith, India and Peace. Over a thousand articles have been published on the topics and two of his books are poised to be released on Pluralism and Islam. Mike's work is reflected in 4 website's and 27 Blogs indexed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/ and you can find all of his current articles at www.TheGhousediary.com

Recognize Palestine

MR. PRESIDENT, YOU MUST VOTE FOR PALESTINE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNYmI6MlhZw

YES TO PALESTINE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WA2NlDU-LM

Read the articles as well.

President Obama, you must vote for Palestine now

Since President Truman, none of the American presidents have had the balls to take a stand and do the right thing; facilitate a lasting solution for the conflict between Israel and Palestine. The talk of two states remains a hoax without recognition of Palestine as a nation. It is a necessity for the security of Israel to recognize Palestine; it will tie the loose ends.

Two videos:..

MR. PRESIDENT, YOU MUST VOTE FOR PALESTINE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNYmI6MlhZw 

YES TO PALESTINE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WA2NlDU-LM

Sixty three years have been squandered with no signs of genuine security for the Jews; they have been living with an unsettling fear and have been on-the-run for their whole history. Not a week goes by where Anti-Semitism is not countered in Europe, it is there in Latin America and it is there in Asia.

The Jews have not been able to breathe freely. There is a genuine phobia that someday a segment of radical Christians will uproot them as Germany did in the recent past and Spain some five hundred years ago, those were the only nations where the Jews felt home twice in their history but were betrayed both the times.

Shamelessly, anti-Semitism continues to operate under the radar in the United States. Not a month passes here in the United States without the markings of Anti-Semitism. Some one’s house is painted with Swastika, someone yells at them “you people” or opens the fire in the Holocaust Museum or demonstrates hateful placards like “Christ Killers”, there are still a few Christians out there who cannot shake this off from their chests.

Shame on our civilization that one group of people has to live in apprehensions of the other. It is just not the Jews but many a minorities in the world live in fears of the other. Shouldn’t we feel bad about it? Are we evil that someone has to be afraid of us? It has got to change.

Recognition of Palestine will put an end to the phobias and fears. The Jewish anxieties will subside when they realize for the second time in their history (first one was creation of Israel) that they are able to live a life of justice, which is a central tenet of Judaism that they had abandoned for security. It will free their psyche. It will have a domino effect, one by one, the Arab nations will recognize Israel’s right to exist over a few years. It simply means acceptance of Israel and a welcome call to the neighborhood.

The real enemies of Israel are those who are milking monies in the name of Israel. It is business to them, they are the Madoffs whose sincerity to Israel is doubtful but loyalty to cashing in the name of Israel is certain. They are manipulators and constantly coerce our congress and senate and get their way.  Heck, they have made it worse for Israel by aggravating the conflicts.

The Judeo-Christian phrase was thrown around 40's to make up for the guilt. A whole industry of opportunists was born from that. The two faced support for Jews by Billy Graham, Richard Nixon, Pat Robertson, John Hagee, Glenn Beck and other chest thumpers had ulterior motives. They wanted to cash in on the name of Israel and perhaps convert them or pre-empt God for the Armageddon.

Jews need sincerity and not duplicity to feel secure. A genuine security is like a child in mother’s lap; safe and free from fears. Jews need to feel there is a home for them, where they can chat with friends in a café and carry on conversations without any fear, have zero fears for their school going children or ride the bus without fear.  More than that, Jews can live their life again as they wanted to; to be a just people.

All of that is possible once the Palestinians feel justice is finally served to them. Shame on our cvilization, we have not cared for the lives of Palestinians, they are deprived of the very basics of life; a home and a nationality.  We have stripped them from their hopes, it will change with this recognition.

President Obama has an opportunity to finalizing the transaction for Israel which was opened by President Truman. Prior to President Truman’s decision to recognize Israel, he was vehemently opposed by many in his administration including the Secretary of State George Marshall, Truman was threatened that his administration will be wrecked, indeed “the wise men” firmly opposed recognition of Israel. Did Truman budge?

President Obama will be equally hounded by Fox News and the right wingers. He has a choice to stand up and act with courage and become a one term president with balls and leave a lasting legacy of bringing genuine security to Israel and hope for the Palestinians.

If President Obama vetoes for Palestinian Statehood, he will do more damage to America’s stature in the community of nations besides keeping Israel in the state of anxiety until another Truman is born.

Let’s recognize Palestine and continue the peace process. It will abate the strife between Jews and Muslims and restore the cordiality that existed prior to the World War I. It is good for Israel, good for Palestine, good for America and good for the Middle East and the World.

Mike Ghouse is committed to building cohesive Societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day to the media and the public. He is a speaker thinker and a writer on the topics of pluralism, cohesive societies, Politics, Islam, interfaith, India and Peace. Over a thousand articles have been published on the topics and two of his books are poised to be released on Pluralism and Islam. Mike's work is reflected in 4 website's and 27 Blogs indexed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/ and you can find all of his current articles at www.TheGhousediary.com