IMEU: FAQ on Obama's visit to the Holy Land

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FAQ on Obama's visit to the Holy Land
IMEU, Jul 21, 2008

A view of the Dome of the Rock in the Old City of Jerusalem. (Maan Images)

1. When is Obama's visit?
2. Where will he go?
3. With whom will he meet?
4. What is the purpose of Obama's visit?
5. What are Palestinians' expectation of Obama's visit?
6. What are some possible questions to ask Obama about his visit?

1. When is Obama's visit?

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama began a week-long trip to the Middle East and Europe this weekend with visits to Afghanistan and Iraq. He is set to meet with Jordan's King Abdullah in Amman on Tuesday, and is expected to spend Wednesday in the West Bank and Israel.

2. Where will he go in Israel/Palestine?

Senator Obama's trip will include stops in both Jerusalem and Ramallah. It has also been announced that he will make a visit to the southern Israeli city of Sderot, the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, and the Wailing Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem, as did presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain during his visit to Israel earlier this year. Israeli leaders also plan to take Obama on a helicopter tour of the so-called 'seam area' in the occupied West Bank - consisting of several large settlements that Israel says it intends to keep in any peace agreement with the Palestinians.

3. With whom will he meet?

Senator Obama is expected to meet with both Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in separate sessions. He is also expected to meet with other top-ranking Israeli officials, including Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, President Shimon Peres, Defense Minister Ehud Barack, and opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu. No meetings with other Palestinian officials have been announced.

4. What is the purpose of Obama's visit?

This is Senator Obama's first major outing in the international arena since becoming the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. The Obama campaign has stressed that his visit to the Middle East is primarily a fact-finding trip, but it has been widely speculated that Obama views the visit as an opportunity to prove his foreign policy credentials. Some analysts also speculate that his visit to Israel is meant to assuage the concerns of Israel's supporters in the U.S. that an Obama administration would be critical of Israeli actions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

5. What are Palestinians' expectations of Obama's visit?

In general, Palestinians have been excited by and optimistic about the possibility of an Obama presidency. Many see the likely Democratic candidate - with his platform of hope and change - as one who may usher in more even-handed American policy regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Those hopes were tempered after Senator Obama told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) last month that he supports continued Israeli sovereignty over occupied East Jerusalem. While he later clarified his position on the issue, saying he supported negotiations between the parties over the status of Jerusalem, the statement has led some Palestinians to question the extent to which he would play a constructive role in Palestinian/Israeli peace efforts.

Palestinians have also expressed disappointment with Senator Obama's limited itinerary in the Occupied Territories. Because he will only visit the West Bank city of Ramallah, he will not witness for himself many of the problems faced by Palestinians living under occupation - including the more than 500 checkpoints and other roadblocks that restrict Palestinian movement in the West Bank or the crippling siege that has brought life for the 1.5 million residents of the Gaza Strip to a near standstill.

While Senator Obama will most likely meet with ordinary Israelis on his excursion to the town of Sderot, no such trip is planned in the Palestinian Territories. As a result, Obama's chance to hear the voices and concerns of ordinary Palestinians - such as the villagers of Bil'in who have lost over half of their farmland to Israel's apartheid wall, or the residents of the Hebron region who suffer frequent attacks from Israeli settlers - will be limited.

In fact, since President Bush hosted a peace conference in Annapolis last November, Israel has destroyed 106 Palestinian homes, announced plans to build nearly 5,000 new Jewish-only homes on Palestinian land, and four new construction sites for Israel's apartheid barrier, 87 percent of which is built on West Bank land. Palestinians question whether Senator Obama will be able to adequately assess the damage these policies cause to Palestinian lives and to the possibility of a two-state solution.

6. What are some questions to ask Obama about his visit?

If you become president, what do you plan to do to reinvigorate the languishing peace process?

Why did you not meet with more Palestinian stakeholders in the peace process and what do you plan to do to better understand their concerns?

Why did you not visit Gaza and what would you do as president to remedy the Israeli-created humanitarian crisis there?

Do you plan to you push for international law to be the basis for any peace agreement between the Palestinians and the Israelis?

As president, would you make U.S. aid to Israel contingent upon a settlement freeze and/or the implementation of other peace process commitments?

As president, would you continue the current policy of isolating the Hamas movement, which won democratic elections in 2006, or would you be open to engaging in dialogue with all parties holding vested interests in the conflict?

Many Palestinian Americans have complained of discrimination from Israeli officials in their efforts to travel to and from the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem. Will an Obama administration insist that Israel treat all American citizens equally?

Israel is currently building the apartheid wall through the farmland of the Palestinian village of Ni'lin where Palestinian, Israeli, and international protesters have waged many nonviolent demonstrations. Do you agree with the International Court of Justice decision of four years ago that where the barrier strays from the Green Line and into the West Bank it must be removed?

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