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Arab Group Sees Hope in Israel Leader's Shift on Palestine
The president of the nation’s largest Arab American advocacy group called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s endorsement on Sunday of an independent Palestinian a “positive first step.”
The news broke of Netanyahu’s first-ever call for a limited, demilitarized independent Palestinian state at the conclusion of the annual conference of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.
“If (Netanyahu) follows up on something positive, that would be significant,” said ADC president Mary Rose Oakar, a former Ohio congresswoman.
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“But actions speak louder than words. I’m pleased to hear something positive from Netanyahu, but we have to wait and see what it means. It’s a breakthrough in terms of his stonewalling disposition.”
The long-standing, thorny issues in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute were the focal point of much of the final day of the conference.
Two members of Congress — Reps. Brian Baird, D-Wash., and and Donna Edwards, D-Md. — reported on their recent trip to Gaza, where many Palestinian homes were destroyed after Israel launched a military action in December and January in response to rocket fire by militants.
Other speakers included Jeremy Ben-Ami, executive director of J Street, an advocacy group supporting a two-state solution to end the Israeli-Palestian conflict, and Archbishop of Jerusalem Hilarion Capucci.
“The majority of the American Jewish community has been shut out of the debate by the larger, established organizations who have been the loudest voices for too long,” said Ben-Ami, who is Jewish.
“… The domestic American politics constitute perhaps the greatest roadblock preventing the United States from playing the active and positive role we need on this path to peace,” he added, echoing others at the conference in supporting President Barack Obama’s early efforts to bring about peace in the region.
The mood at the 29th annual convention was largely upbeat, reflecting excitement over Obama’s recent speech in Cairo to the Muslim and Arab world.
In numerous interviews, conference attendees said they hoped Obama’s speech signaled a shift in U.S. foreign policy away from what they feel is unfairly tilted in Israel’s favor.
“I’d like to see more evenness in U.S. foreign policy,” said Hanan Aswad, a conference attendee from Lambertville. “I want (Obama) to continue the dialogue that he’s started.”
On Saturday night, former president Bill Clinton spoke to the ADC convention, spotlighting the growing political clout of the Arab American community.
Of the estimated 1,500 conference attendees, about 50 were from Michigan, including University of Michigan communications student Will Youmans.
Youmans expressed hopefulness about the early steps by Obama to help resolve problems in the Middle East, but he was dubious about the Israeli prime minister’s endorsement of a demilitarized Palestinian state.
“A demilitarized state in that part of that world would fail very quickly,” Youmans said.
“Demilitarization means having no self-defense. It means having no independent foreign policy,” he added. “If I were a Palestinian, I would say demilitarization is a non-starter because it would mean Palestine would always be subject to Israel’s control.”
Kareem W. Shora, the executive director of the ADC, called the Israeli prime minister’s endorsement of a limited Palestinian state “definitely a positive development.” But he said he’ll wait judgment to see what unfolds.
Deb Price
The Detroit News