Obama disappoints Akersgata

Verdens Gang, November 3rd

Akersgata – Norway’s Fleet Street – appears to be disappointed over President Obama. The cartoon above is from Verdens Gang, Norway’s largest daily, but it is hardly original. What we see is a boisterous star of David threatening to buck Obama right out of the saddle. The headline below says: Obama’s round-turn. The editorial deals with how President Obama has let everyone down, especially the Palestinians, by giving in to “powerful friends” of Israel on Capitol Hill. The thought that Obama might actually be acting in the interests of the American people, or that Israel might be in the right on some issue and the Palestinians in the wrong, is obviously not relevant here.

Nothing new about this take on affairs.

Even before the inauguration Akersgata envisioned that here was, finally, a man with the will and inclination to chastise Israel. A man to sort things out and tell the Israelis in a straight forward, no-nonsense manner, to abolish the settlements on the West Bank. Because, as the lads and lasses of Akersgata will swear, it’s all about the settlements. Confront them with the fate of the Peel Commission or Camp David II and they will just shake their heads. No, no… they will say, it’s the settlements, stupid! If only Israel would abolish the settlements, then there would be peace.

Perhaps.

Then again, perhaps someone at VG attended either Stephen Walt’s speech at NTNU or John J.Mearsheimer’s speech at NUPI. Here is one question about the Israel-lobby for VG to deal with: Is it possible for US foreign policy to be favorable of Israel, without that policy being the product of the Israel-lobby? If so, how do we tell the two apart?

Blank stare.

Then: No… no… it’s the settlements… the settlements…