During the '03 Democratic convention, Obama excited Americans of all backgrounds by his unity speech. I remember the pride I and many others felt when he legitimized Arab Americans by including them in the new America he was advocating. The term Arab American has since disappeared in Obama's stump speech. Obama repeated verbatim Bush's position regarding the two state solution, calling Israel a Jewish state, the need to stop new settlements and even his prejudging the results of negotiations by his support for Israeli sovereignty over a united Jerusalem. His call on the illegal Israeli occupiers to ease travel restrictions was conditioned with the caveat "consistent with its security." Unlike Bush, Obama promises us that he will begin efforts for peace from the beginning of his term and not in its waning days. Why should we believe this particular promise when all previous ones have been reversed?
America's black nominee who would have supported divestment on racist south Africa blasted international divestment calls on Israel, and libeled Arab oil producing countries by saying that "petrodollars are responsible for the killing of American soldiers and Israeli citizens." How pathetic.
If there was a time that a presidential candidate should have had courage to change course on the way Washington is run this was the time. If there was a group that deserved a more honest speech it was this. Obama failed in both tests. This is a shame.
Daoud Kuttab, an award winning Palestinian journalist is a visiting lecturer at Princeton University. His email is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..