by Muneeb Ali
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In the last week before Obama's inauguration, people are almost numb about Gaza. At least most of them. Another graphic image of an unnamed dead child appears and you really don't want to look. This is too depressing to glance over, you justify to yourself. The death toll goes up by five or six, but who is really keeping a count? Oh they still haven't reached a thousand? A few, however, are still human enough to feel the pain. Fresh photographs of child corpses make them hug their own kids a little closer. For these frustrated souls, the death toll of 975 is not just a number. The sacred land of monotheistic religions is bleeding. Yet again. Where are the hope candles that we all have been burning this past year? Where is Obama? Obama can condemn the loss of life in Darfur, but not in Gaza? He can "closely monitor" the situation in Mumbai, but for Gaza there is only one President at a time? He can criticize the current President on economy, but not the Middle East? The failing US economy calls for urgent action - we understand. But when Obama tries to talk about the economy while bombs are slicing innocent humans, while hospitals are fast resembling slaughter houses, and while schools are turning in to graveyards, you can't help but wonder if he is deaf or blind or both. |
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Obama's silence on Gaza, however, does not reflect his ignorance. He is neither deaf nor blind, only cautious. Bush was naive to think that he can resolve the Israel-Palestine issue before leaving office. If Obama can find a sustainable solution to this three-thousand-year-old problem in four or even eight years, it will be no less than a miracle. Right now if he condemns Israel, he starts his diplomatic journey with them on the wrong foot. If he agrees with Israel, his support in the Arab world takes a dent. It is not easy for Obama to stay clear of this mess. In a perfect world, in a fair world, in a sympathetic world, he should have done a lot more a lot sooner. However, in a realistic world, in a diplomatic world, in a complex world, silence is sadly his best, maybe only, option. This silence gives him an untainted shot at engaging in diplomacy after January 20th. No matter how bloody the last chapter was, it was still written under W., not Obama.
