By Neve Gordon
16 November 2010
Neve Gordon views US President Barack Obama’s reckless offer to arms Israel to the teeth, protect it from pressure at the United Nations and fend off attempts to expose its nuclear weapons programme in return for a temporary freeze on construction on stolen Palestinian land.
Imagine a sheriff offering the head of a criminal gang the following deal: “If you agree to stop stealing from your neighbours for three months, I’ll give you cutting-edge weaponry and block any efforts by other law-enforcement authorities to restrain your criminal activities."
Sounds absurd? Then how about this: in return for a three-month freeze of illegal construction in the occupied West Bank (but not in occupied East Jerusalem, where it may continue), Barack Obama has promised to deliver 20 F-35 fighter jets to Israel, a deal worth 3 billion US dollars. Moreover, his administration has vowed to curb action by the United Nations on the Goldstone Report, block anti-Israel UN resolutions concerning the Gaza flotilla raid, and defeat resolutions aimed at exposing Israel’s nuclear programme at the International Atomic Energy Agency.
In such situations it’s important to keep in mind that the sheriff (Obama) and not the gang leader (Netanyahu) is the major culprit.
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A version of this article originally appeared on the London Review of Books blog.The version here is published by permission of Neve Gordon.
http://www.redress.cc/palestine/ngordon20101116
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