The title refers to the ritual genuflection in American politics: the only one concern in all the exhilirating Obama news of the last week - the apparent sellout to the Israel lobby. Is this essential, inevitable? The declaration about Jerusalem may tie his hands for any possible resolution in future..
An important reaction is from respected Israeli peace activist Uri Avnery at CounterPunch: http://www.counterpunch.org/
Please read the article for the full perspective.
"And what was the first thing Barack Obama did after his astounding victory? He ran to the conference of the Israel lobby, AIPAC, and made a speech that broke all records for obsequiousness and fawning.
URI AVNERY"
Some excerpts:
"The Jewish votes are important, of course, especially in several swing states which may decide the outcome. But African-Americans have more votes, and so do the Hispanics. Obama has brought to the political scene millions of new young voters. Numerically, the Arab-Muslim community in the US is also not an insignificant factor."
"The outstanding thing that distinguishes him from both Hillary Clinton and John McCain is his uncompromising opposition to the war in Iraq from the very first moment. That was courageous. That was unpopular. That was totally opposed to the Israel lobby, all of whose branches were fervidly pushing George Bush to start the war that freed Israel from a hostile regime.
And here comes Obama to crawl in the dust at the feet of AIPAC and go out of his way to justify a policy that completely negates his own ideas."
"But his declaration about Jerusalem breaks all bounds. It is no exaggeration to call it scandalous."
"In prior US presidential races, the pandering candidates thought that it was enough to promise that the US embassy would be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. After being elected, not one of the candidates ever did anything about this promise. All were persuaded by the State Department that it would harm basic American interests."