What in the name of humanity are you doing?” That was what a British broadcaster asked the Israeli government spokesperson on TV after the Israelis attacked a UN school killing more than 40 people. To watch the news of the attack on Gaza from abroad is really hard, or so you would think at the beginning; at first I was looking for Arabs to talk to and discuss with them the shocking news reports that have been dominating the media for the past two weeks. But the angry reactions came not only from Arabs but also from non-Arabs.
The BBC coverage as well as that of other British media was both full and balanced. It did not hesitate to show images of carnage and suffering. It simply warned viewers of what was coming. It was a humanitarian crisis and it was treated as such.
Last week, protests took place all over London and in them, I saw faces from all over the world — former London Mayor Ken Livingstone and parliamentarian Tony Benn were prominent speakers in the protest around Trafalgar Square. Equally, there were public figures representing British Muslims and ordinary people who felt outraged by the Israeli aggression and subsequent savagery.
A British friend marked a day to go to the protest, saying he owed it to his conscience to go and make his opinion clear on the matter. After Trafalgar Square, protesters rained down on the Israeli Embassy.
Protests were held around the Arab world, the latest in the UAE, where thousands took to the streets condemning the war.
The American position was, as always, biased toward Israel. President George W. Bush did not do himself a favor by leaving office without even a single act of mercy and compassion. He evidently prefers to leave office content to be remembered as one of the most unpopular presidents in US history.
But most eyes were on the president-elect, who was celebrated around the world for his optimistic and inspiring message of change — and there could be no better time than this to manifest a change in American foreign policy.
But Obama failed to wow people on this issue; he kept his silence for more than a week, which made many people who supported him wildly during his campaign feel disappointed. A friend who was an Obama admirer said: “I am afraid that ‘change’ is not happening.” And seeing that Obama avoided the question for days made me feel the same.
Finally, the president-elect spoke to say he was “concerned” which does not mean much. “Concerned” is not really what you expect from an American president who promised a different policy and a different America. The children of Gaza that have been killed daily deserved more than “concern.”
The newspapers remembered that when Obama visited Israel last July, he condemned Hamas rockets and said: “If someone was firing rockets onto my house where my daughters were sleeping at night, I would do everything to stop them, and I would expect the Israelis to do the same thing.” But when he was asked to comment on the carnage in Gaza, he did not talk about Palestinian children who were killed by Israeli bombs. Somehow those children were not mentioned when Obama spoke again and said he had a plan to deal with the situation in the Middle East when he takes office. When Obama was vacationing in Hawaii and the situation erupted, protesters gathered outside his residence wanting a reaction from him. They reported that he talked about other issues; he condemned the Mumbai attacks and kept talking about economic matters even though they demanded he address the situation in Gaza. Well, he did at last but his words were simply not enough.
