We call our fathers "Pa!" "Papa!" or "Baba!" Obama is one such universally pronounceable catchy name. It can be used as the end rhyme of a song. You can stretch the "maaaa" as long as you want, and play with the final syllable as much as you want -- "maaaoou, maaeey, ma-ma-maaa."
But this is not the reason why Putin loves Obama. This is not why the American people equate Obama with Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln is practically unsingable. And phonetically, Obama and Osama stand on the same foot.
Obama is loved because his PR team managed to make his name synonymous with change. Obama is not a promise given, he is a dream realized. True, he promises change, but he himself is a dramatic change. He is a word given and kept. He is the embodiment of faith in the possibility of the impossible. If an African-American can become the president of the United States, defeating a veteran of the Vietnam War, anything is possible.
Anything is possible and the list of possibilities includes disappointment in Obama also. In the end, Obama could turn into what Israel has become. A hundred years ago, an independent Israel in the middle of Muslim-Arab lands was unthinkable to many. Sixty years ago, the Jews of Europe were subjected to the worst of massacres, annihilation, degradation and deprivation: a grave genocide. It was unthinkable then that one day, the very Jews which were gathered in mass open prisons would do the same to another people. It was unthinkable, to those Jews themselves, that one day their sons and daughters would be dehumanized to the point of celebrating the deaths of children and women. The unthinkable came true.
With Obama anything is possible. This is not about Obama's character; this is about the zeitgeist. We are living in an age of the unthinkable coming true. I saw in Palestine that the black Israeli soldiers were among the harshest ones when it came to dealing with the Palestinians. That Obama is coming from a disadvantaged background is no guarantee that he will be more inclusive, embracing and compassionate.
Obama says if the Muslim world is willing to unclench its fist, America will extend a hand. America's hand is already extended to the Muslim world. The point is whether it will be a reprimanding, commanding, condemning, sword-holding hand, or a listening, cooperative, olive branch-holding one. Obama has not uttered a clear position directly from his mouth yet, but the list of his Middle East policy advisors does not give much hope for the future. Obama says he is ready to speak to Syria, Iran and even Hamas, but there are no Arab, Persian or Turkish advisers on his team. Daniel Shapiro, Anthony Lake, Daniel Kurtzner, Robert Wexler and Eric Lynn are not only pro-Israelis but also Jewish. There is nothing wrong with having Jewish advisors, especially if they are the best informed about the Middle East, but when even the non-Jewish advisors, such as Denis McDonough, are staunchly pro-Israeli, what kind of balanced and just formulas for peace can we expect from this team? Martin Indyk and Dennis Ross are counted as balancing names in Obama's advisory team and we all know that Indyk has a Kissingeresque understanding of the "clash of intra-Islamic civilizations," those of the Sunnis and the Shiites.
Can this team create a workable framework of just peace? Well, we are living in an age of the unthinkable coming true. That there should be a stable, lasting and just peace between the states of Israel and Palestine is in no way more improbable than the victims of a genocide victimizing others. It can be!
But, why can't a miracle worker have a day off? Because a peaceful Middle East does not need a miracle. It needs justice, balanced attitudes and determination. They say that Doris Kearns Goodwin's best-selling book on President Lincoln and his cabinet, titled "Team of Rivals," is a reference book used by Obama. Goodwin suggests that Lincoln was able to create a synergy out of differences within his cabinet. This is wisdom, not a miracle. But producing a just, balanced, objective and even-handed peace plan for Israel and Palestine with a team of people who are staunchly pro-Israeli would be a miracle.
We would love to see Obama work a miracle in economics, but use the wisdom of "Team of Rivals" when it comes to the Middle East.
