Tag: chas freeman

Mr Netanyahu goes to Washington…and Washington quails

Former Ambassador Chas Freeman on AIPAC’s campaign against Barack Obama, despite the latter’s extraordinary efforts to appease the lobby group.

John Mearsheimer thinks that Obama is doomed to disappoint.

Barack Obama gave a major speech on the Middle East on Thursday, May 19, and it is clear from the subsequent commentary that he impressed few people. The main reason for this is that he did not say much new or indicate that there would be any serious changes in US policy in the region. It was essentially more of the same with some tweaking here and there. Nevertheless, he did manage to anger some people. For example, Israel’s hard-line supporters were outraged that he said: “Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps.” For them, the 1967 borders are “Auschwitz borders” and thus can never serve as a basis for negotiations.

Continue reading “Mr Netanyahu goes to Washington…and Washington quails”

Chas Freeman: US no longer qualified to mediate Middle East Peace

Ambassador Chas Freeman at a New America Foundation talk, moderated by Steve Clemons. Amb. Freeman’s current book is America’s Misadventures in the Middle East.

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The U.S. should not enable Israel’s self-destructiveness

“I don’t believe that playing the role of enabler to an alcoholic is an act of kindness and I don’t believe playing the role of enabler to a country that is setting itself for catastrophe is responsible either.  I think we have a very sad situation in this country in which any criticism of whatever it is that the current government of Israel is doing is immediately cited as evidence of anti-Israel bias or as evidence of antisemitism.” (Video: 21:46)

The U.S. is no longer qualified to mediate Mideast peace

“The United States essentially has disqualified itself as a mediator. I say that with great sadness because I believe on many occasions in the past we had opportunities to broker peace. I think there has been the implicit promise of peace on many occasions and we did not do that. We cannot play the role of mediator because of the political hammerlock that the right wing in Israel through its supporters here exercises in our politics. We’re simply biased. We’re not capable. If you doubt that read the so-called Palestine Papers and see what we were doing.”  (Video 22:38)

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