Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Activists in Hawaii Urge Obama To Rethink Mid East

See Cornell West's really good advice to Obama on tackling the MidEast and more advice from retired Gen. Anthony Zinni to engage Hamas early. Obama has said that he will engage early but he hasn't said how.

I'm hoping Obama won't be anything like Bush on dealing with this problem, which is going to take Courage, especially since he'll have to contend with the busy wingnuts still saying Obama's a stealth Muslim terrorist. 
HA: Eight activists marched with signs to the edge of the property's security perimeter, telling reporters that they want the incoming administration to take a fresh look at the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian territories, especially given the current fighting in the Gaza Strip. They also said Obama needs to take a more active role in the conflict, even though he doesn't take office until Jan. 20.

"We feel there's a great need for change. We need to stop giving Israel a blank check to do what it's doing," said Margaret Brown, a 66-year-old Honolulu resident who held a handmade sign that read "Yes we can change U.S. policy toward Israel and Palestine."

"We just gave them a blank check to oppress the Palestinians, and this is the result," she said.

Israel continued its air attacks on Gaza on Tuesday and warned that a ground invasion could follow if rocket launches didn't stop. The United States has called for the militant group Hamas to stop launching rockets into Israel.

More advice. This makes sense: