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AAI in the News

Presidential race must include discussion of Middle East

By James Zogby
Des Moines Register
Posted on Tuesday April 10, 2007

After delivering two solidly pro-Israel speeches before American Israel Public Affairs Committee audiences in Illinois and Washington, D.C., Sen. Barack Obama ran into a troublesome question a few weeks back while campaigning in Iowa. In many ways, it was a classic Iowa moment – the kind that makes me glad that Iowa still stands alone as the first caucus state in the presidential election cycle.

The question came from an Iowa peace activist. “As president, how would you address the human-rights crisis that Palestinian Christians and Muslims must bear?” the woman asked.

Obama’s answer was direct. He restated his belief in the centrality of the U.S.-Israel strategic relationship, and went on to say, “no one is suffering more than the Palestinian people.” The senator suggested loosening restrictions on Palestinian aid if there is “movement among the Palestinian leadership” and then made reference to the “heavy stones Israel must carry” if there is to be progress toward peace, noting specifically the settlement issue.

Other than his expression of concern for the suffering of Palestinians, Obama’s observations were neither novel, nor inconsistent with U.S. policy. But the remark about Palestinian suffering prompted some hard-line supporters of Israel to demand a clarification. This was an effort to teach a lesson to Obama – much as had been done in 2004 when Howard Dean called for a more balanced U.S. role in peacekeeping, and when John Kerry criticized Israel’s West Bank wall. The intent was to shut off debate by making it clear that this issue was off-limits.

The story, however, did not end here, because this is Iowa. Iowans are careful custodians of the nation’s first caucuses, knowing that they will get the chance to raise issues that the rest of America needs to have answered. Iowans also do their homework.

For two decades, Iowa’s Democrats have overwhelmingly passed resolutions at their state conventions supporting a more balanced and compassionate U.S. policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As early as 1988, beginning at their precinct caucuses and concluding with their state convention, Iowans passed a platform position supporting “the right of both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples to a homeland achieved through peaceful means, negotiated by representatives of their choosing.”

This practice has been repeated every four years. In 2004, Iowans passed a plank supporting efforts to achieve two separate and secure states, “giving equal consideration to the needs and positions of both Palestine and Israel, while holding both sides accountable for their actions.”

So it’s not surprising that Iowans responded to the effort to intimidate Obama with an open letter signed by activists across the state.

The letter, urging the senator to stand his ground, read in part: “We have noted with concern the harshness of criticism you have received… your compassion and support for the establishment of a Palestinian state and the security of Israel are consistent with the positions taken by Iowa citizens for many years.”

It would be tragic if this debate were silenced, with no thoughtful discussion during this presidential contest of the U.S. peacemaking role in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Since the end of the Vietnam War, every U.S. president has had to expend significant political capital on Arab-Israeli peacemaking. It is imperative that those who seek the presidency be asked to engage in an open conversation with the American people about how they intend to conduct Middle East policy.

Polling conducted by the Arab American Institute indicates that most Americans, including most Jewish and Arab Americans, support a U.S. policy that recognizes the needs of both Israelis and Palestinians and works for a balanced resolution to their conflict.

My thanks, therefore, go to Iowa’s peace activists for sending a clear message that there’s a desperate need in this race for the openness to engage in a respectful conversation about the Middle East.

James Zogby will speak on the Middle East at 7 p.m. Monday at Plymouth United Congregational Church in Des Moines. The speech is sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee. The public is invited, and admission is free.