Over the past month, this forum has carried letters and articles on Obama-mania. The hype about Barack Obama reminds me of how our national car Proton was over-promoted and even well-perceived when first launched. Of how Malaysians gave the brand a try and finding out later after actually owning one. And now, what the Terengganu state exco is saying about the Perdana marque.

Admittedly, Obama has captured the global imagination with his peddling of ‘Hope’, telegenic looks and nifty public relations imagery. He’s adept at speechmaking too, in the best Kennedy-inspired tradition of Peace Corps and Camelot.

democrat american election obama 070108 01And he’s even provided assurances to Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas that the presumptive American Democrat president would be "a constructive partner in the [Middle East] peace process" – "starting from the minute I’m sworn into office."

But the reality is that presidential candidates welcome campaign funding from the Jews, and Obama is no exception; he’s been accused of increasingly pandering to the Jewish lobby. Since he has been scrutinised on the Israel issue more than others in the Presidential race – possibly because his middle name is Hussein – Obama’s public statements are easy to track in the international media.

Recently on June 24, the New York Times reported that Obama appeared in synagogues during his campaign but not at mosques, and that Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, had volunteered to speak on his behalf at a mosque in Cedar Rapids but was rebuffed.

The NYT article reported that in mid-June, "two Muslim women wearing head scarves were barred by campaign volunteers from appearing behind Mr Obama at a rally in Detroit", but his aides however denied that he kept Muslim supporters at arm’s length.

Does Obama truly wish to outreach to Muslims or does he fear more to be alienating Israel supporters, the American right and Christian fundamentalists, all of them influential voting blocs?

Disassociating from pro-Palestinians

In the first presidential debate, televised to about two million viewers, Obama was asked if he stood by an earlier comment he made sympathetic of the Palestinian plight. The Illinois senator replied: "Well, keep in mind what the remark actually, if you had the whole thing, said.… [N]obody has suffered more than the Palestinian people from the failure of the Palestinian leadership to recognise Israel..."

His spokesmen had, the year before, similarly clarified Obama’s stand. Associated Press reported Obama’s March 2007 statement: "Our job is to do more than lay out another road map. That effort begins with a clear and strong commitment to the security of Israel: Our strongest ally in the region and its only established democracy. That will always be my starting point."

Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor had said back then: "As he stated in his speech (at American Israel Public Affairs Committee or AIPAC) and again in Iowa, he also believes that in the end, the Palestinian people are suffering from the Hamas-led government’s refusal to renounce terrorism and join as a real partner in the peace process."

In a Feb 26 debate with Hillary Clinton, Obama reiterated that he is "a stalwart friend of Israel."

Yet Malaysians believe Obama will be good news, or at least better than a Republican administration, for Palestinians – this country’s most beloved cause celebre.

Obama spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki distanced the senator from the controversial book ‘The Israel Lobby’ written by two professors – John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt – when she made it clear that Obama disagreed with the arguments it contained.

Psaki said: "Senator Obama has stated that his support for a strong US-Israel relationship, which includes both a commitment to Israel’s security and to helping Israel achieve peace with its neighbours, comes from his belief that it's the right policy for the United States."

"The idea that supporters of Israel have somehow distorted U.S. foreign policy, or that they are responsible for the debacle in Iraq, is just wrong," she said [alluding to the book’s premise that influential Jews lobbied for the invasion].

Obama has also denounced the notorious minister Louis Farrakhan (an African American who leads the group Nation of Islam) as an anti-Semite.

In this year’s March 18 speech, Obama similarly criticised the tetchy sermons of his Christian pastor of 20 years, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Obama said Wright’s remarks "expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country – a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam."

Earlier in January, Obama sent a letter to UN Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad urging: "The Security Council should clearly and unequivocally condemn the rocket attacks against Israel.… If it cannot… I urge you to ensure that it does not speak at all." Obama also wrote that he understood why Israel was forced to shut down Gaza’s border crossings.

Then and now

Are Malaysians aware of Obama warming up to ties with – in Malaysian popular parlance – Zionists! – despite his more accommodating stance years ago on Palestine, and expressed before he recently clinched the ultimate nomination?

Ali Abunimah, co-founder of pro-Palestinian online publication ‘The Electronic Intifada’, compared Obama of 2004 with Obama of 2008.

Ali blogged, "The last time I spoke to Obama was in the winter of 2004 at a gathering in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood." Ali recalls Obama was then in the midst of a primary campaign to secure the nomination for his Senate seat, and trailing.

"As he came in from the cold and took off his coat, I went up to greet him. He responded warmly, and volunteered, ‘Hey, I’m sorry I haven’t said more about Palestine right now, but we are in a tough primary race. I'm hoping when things calm down I can be more upfront’."

In the past, Obama was perceived as a young liberal who did not share the more entrenched hawkish outlook on the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Ali, who is also a fellow of the Palestine Center based in Washington DC, writes in The Guardian (July 23, 2008) that Obama’s visit last week to Israel and Palestine seemed designed to appease pro-Israel groups in the US, and that the senator met with Israeli Jewish political leaders but not Israeli Arab.

He also observed that Obama staunchly backed Israel’s 2006 bombing of Lebanon, calling it an act of ‘self-defence’, and during his recent Middle East trip had condemned Palestinian violence.

Ali commented that after boldly promising an ‘undivided’ Jerusalem to Israel as its capital in a speech to AIPAC last month, Obama appeared to backtrack amid a wave of outrage across the Arab world.

While Obama bowed to outrage and backtracked, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s own ‘gostan’ manoeuvre on the Terengganu exco Mercedes fleet just took him in circles. Ultimately each Malaysian deserves the Proton he drives but my guess is Obama will be able to maintain his Cadillac cruise all the way to the White House. But too bad if the Middle East conflict will remain stalled.