Look us straight in the eyes

The night Barack Obama was elected, American voters proved that America belongs to the world and not to some doctrinal fundamentalists who have lost track of the heritage of its “founding fathers.” Will the Obama administration recover America’s leading role in the Middle East and elsewhere?Or is the transformation going to be illusory and subject to the power of lobbies and their irresistible pressures?For eight years, the US administration, blinded by ideological bias, has failed to see the forest for the trees, totally misunderstanding Syrian culture and intentions. Obama’s election could be an outstanding opportunity for a fresh start.

The Bush administration relentlessly opposed Arab efforts towards peace, showing total disdain for the Arab peace initiative of 2002. We expect President Obama to support the political umbrella that this initiative provides, allowing Syrians to recover the occupied Golan Heights, Lebanese their remaining occupied territories and Palestinians the totality of their pre-1967 land. History and international law dictate that Arab Jerusalem is and will always be the capital of Palestine.

Bush also rejected the results of the Palestinian democratic elections, driving Hamas and Fatah to fratricidal confrontations that divided the Palestinians and weakened their just cause. It’s about time to lift the inhumane siege of Gaza and use US good offices to strengthen the legitimacy of the Palestinian Authority.

Syria was subjected to some of the fiercest politically inspired attacks in recent history. The neo-conservative lobby, that held so much influence over the last administration, shifted from threat to aggressive action and back again in a clear attempt to destabilize the country. That strategy failed. The campaign of intimidation was met by patience and resilience on the part of Syria. An end of the anti-Syrian rhetoric in Washington is clearly needed. President Obama will hopefully become convinced that Syria remains the gateway to peace and security in the Middle East and that nothing can be achieved by the US in the region without courting Damascus.

Under the Bush administration the US also sponsored the destruction by Israel of at least half of Lebanon under the pretext of liquidating the allegedly terrorist Hezbollah, irrespective of the fact, that the main entities practicing terrorism in the region are the Israeli army and al-Qaeda. The victory of the Lebanese resistance made Hezbollah the key non-state actor in the region, and opened the eyes of Arab youth to the possibility of a successful asymmetric confrontation with the mighty Israeli army.

The responsibility of the new president, as leader of the nation which is the ultimate protector of Israel, is therefore to convince the powerful Israeli lobby in America of the inevitability of withdrawal from all occupied Arab territories. This will provide the future generations of Israel with the prospect of becoming fully integrated in a peaceful and prosperous Middle East. In exchange, Syria and the Arab countries will be ready to conclude a peace agreement with Israel. They will endeavor to convince the Arab public opinion to lay down arms and start a new era of harmony with a henceforth nonaggressive state, a state that has been forcibly grafted on their neighborhood but has become a de facto political reality that needs to be recognized.

The US’ occupation of Iraq caused the destruction of a leading Arab country that used to enjoy wealth and human resources, the erosion of its culture and the tearing apart of its social fabric. The non-declared intention was to ensure Israeli supremacy in the region and American domination over its oil resources. The unexpected resolve of the Iraqi resistance – not to be confused with the ‘takfirist’ terrorist groups operating on the ground - and the rise of Iran as a regional power partially frustrated the original strategy. Nevertheless the end result is that a historically great country is to be rebuilt from scratch. Is President Obama ready to negotiate American total withdrawal from Iraq? Is he ready to engage in serious talks with Iran, Turkey and Syria to honor his commitment and stabilize the region?

Some of the recently appointed advisors in the Obama team may tell the president that these requirements are wishful thinking and that the weak and dispersed Arabs are no match to the Israelis. Some enlightened Israelis who understand the history of the region will assert on the other hand, that after seeing what happened to the Israeli army in southern Lebanon in 2006, entire Middle Eastern populations could join the armed struggle to liberate their occupied land and threaten the existence of Israel itself, should it persist in its arrogant and intransigent behavior.

There is today a real opportunity for peace. The president-elect can look us straight in the eyes and put his case. Syria can do the same. There is a shared commitment to justice for all the peoples of the region. The idealism that brought Barack Obama to office is an idealism that our society can certainly embrace.