Countdown

Build 'Em Up and Knock 'Em Down

Volume VII, No. 20
Posted on Tuesday May 30, 2006

Build ‘Em Up and Knock ‘Em Down

In his recent speech to Congress, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s 38 applause lines and 18 standing ovations can be attributed to an interesting array of speechwriters…among them Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel and pollster and political strategist Frank Luntz. During his press conference with President George W. Bush, Olmert—in a first for an Israeli leader—referred to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as…hold your breath…”Mahmoud Abbas, the elected President of the Palestinian Authority.” In the past, Israeli leaders had insisted on calling both Abbas and President Yasser Arafat “Chairman.” (Even though the Oslo Accords provided that the elected head of state be called “rais”—because the Israelis objected to using the English translation of president). Perhaps referring to Abbas by his elected title polled better with test audiences. The PM struck a very different tone just three days earlier in a CNN interview, using the old title of “Chairman” and describing Abbas as “powerless” and “helpless.” We shouldn’t be too surprised. Olmert clearly got the message that American support for his disengagement plan would only come after reaching out to the Palestinian president. And so begins the familiar process of building up a Palestinian leader just to knock him down.

Congress or Knesset?

As reported in last week’s Countdown, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed legislation to impose severe restrictions on US aid to the Palestinians. Referring to the bill’s punitive sanctions on moderate Palestinian leaders, House minority whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, “The legislation can always be modified at some future time if in fact Olmert and the Israeli government’s position is that we have to modify this to support a moderate element on the Palestinian side.” An important clarification for those who thought US law was made to serve the national interests of the United States.

The Independent State of Battery Park City

The New York Times offers those familiar with Manhattan’s compact landscape a glimpse into the troubles facing Palestinians vying for an independent state: “Anyone who has ever really looked at a map of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza can see how hard it will be to form a Palestinian state…To get an idea of this, imagine a map of Manhattan. The West Bank would be, very roughly, East Harlem and the Upper East Side. Gaza would be Battery Park City, far to the southwest. Now imagine trying to create a fully functioning city with its own economy out of those pieces while an entirely independent, antagonistic city remained in between. Yet that is what the Palestinians will have to do if they even manage to get back to the 1967 borders. (If the Sharon-Olmert plan, now tentatively blessed by Mr. Bush, goes into effect, they won’t achieve that.) If Mr. Olmert moves forward with his plan to retain large settlement blocs in the West Bank, the Palestinians may well lose huge parts of their ‘Upper East Side’ and be left trying to form a country out of what’s left, and their ‘Battery Park City.’” This American analogy is so important because, while we have become used to similar parallels concerning Israel (did you know it is the size of Connecticut?), it is the first time we can recall that the Palestinian reality has been explained in a way that Americans could relate to and identify with.

See SPOT Screen Luggage…

Time reports that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will announce a new program which singles out passengers for increased security screening based on suspicious behavior rather than racial or ethnic factors or controversial “watch lists.” The program, called Screening Passengers by Observation Techniques, or SPOT, has been tested in several airports and has “resulted in the arrest of more than 50 people for having fake IDs, entering the country illegally or drug possession.” Maybe the government finally agrees with New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly—that ”[racial] profiling is just nuts.”

The Keys to the Mansion

The battle over control of Congress has largely eclipsed another important horse race—those for the Governor’s mansions in a whopping thirty-six states. Republicans currently hold 28 governorships to the Democrats’ 22. The GOP will try to hold on to 22 of their seats, while Democrats hope to retain 14, including that of Arab American Governor John Baldacci (D-ME). While issues vary from state to state (in some states scandals and others concern about the economy) it appears that the souring national mood is having a more dramatic impact on gubernatorial races than on the Senate, with incumbents from both parties feeling the heat. Given the closeness of many of these contests, Arab Americans are poised to make an impact in several races, which take place in nine of the top eleven Arab American states (California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas), including three states with open seats (Florida, New York, and Ohio).