My First Letter to Barack Obama

I just went to Change.gov and posted this letter to Barack Obama.  I wrote it mostly from the Israeli perspective, but I guess such a perspective is necessary to be intelligible in the American political system, where you have to prove that you're "pro-Israel" (whatever that means) in order to be heard in the first place.  That said, it's also important to remind people on the Left that an Israeli perspective is not inherently invalid or irrelevant just because the Israeli government is committing atrocities.  All in all, no argument will ever be effective unless it relentlessly acknowledges the simultaneous validity and illegitimacy of both sides.  As soon as you ignore one of them, you open yourself up to the fury of the ignored, and the conversation more or less stops right there.

Dear Mr. Obama,

We agree that Israel has the right to protect itself.  But we both know that its invasion of Gaza will do no such thing. 

After all, while the Hamas rocket attacks onto Israeli soil are horrible and must stop, they constitute no substantial threat to the existence of Israel.  The Israeli response, however, is catastrophic to the people of Gaza.  It will further embitter them, destroy their already-decimated infrastructure, and make life in Gaza all the more hopeless for its population.

If Israel takes everything from the Palestinian people, then the Palestinian people will have nothing to lose.  And when you have nothing to lose, it's easy to find yourself doing horrible things.

And so the only way Israel can protect itself is by giving the Palestinian people something to lose!  By giving them a life!  By giving them a functioning nation in which they can prosper and grow and learn.

Such an endeavor is obviously difficult with a Hamas government in charge.  (Blame that on your predecessor for foolishly pressing for Palestinian elections.)  But it cannot be impossible.  I refuse to believe it is impossible, when any other option just makes the situation worse and worse.

Please, as soon as you become President, appoint a special envoy to Israel/Palestine, and call for a summit of regional leaders.  Pressure neighboring Arab allies to help rebuild the Palestinian infrastructure, with assurances that Israel won't have to worry about smuggled weapons.  And most importantly, give the Hamas government incentives to stop its rocket attacks on Israel.  Without these attacks, the more hawkish elements within Israel will have no excuse for violence.  Their military campaign will lose all legitimacy, and we can return to the task of building a functional Palestinian society, and, ultimately, a functional Palestinian state - one in which violence against Israel will be unpopular, pointless and nonexistent.

Peace
Dan