Yesterday, the President gave an absolutely riveting speech and made some incredible moves related to the Middle East. I’ve received more questions that I could imagine asking “What do you think?” “What does this mean?” etc… This email attempts to address that. However, please feel free to email me with more questions. Also let me know if you want to be on the email lists for the White House Jewish outreach.
Below you will find the link to the speech, talking points and ways to think about/parse the actions proposed by the President. I’ll be posting my take on this on my blog tonight along with some of the unusual ways that I personally relate to what’s going on. I wanted to get this in your hands ASAP, though, and need to get on a flight.
I really need you to share this with others who may care about this. It’s critical that people understand what this speech means and delivers. I’ve already received the Republican talking points and they are, as you might imagine, very dire, alarmist, and mis-interpreting.
Thanks so much!
Suzi LeVine: Twitter: @suzilevine; Facebook: www.facebook.com/suzilevine
Speech: Text | Video – Please be sure to watch/read it yourself rather than just consume the interpretations
Add’l info from the White House:
WHAT THE PRESIDENT SAID ABOUT ISRAEL IN HIS SPEECH
- Israelis living with the fear that their children could get blown up on a bus or by rockets fired at their homes, as well as the pain of knowing that other children in the region are taught to hate them.
- The importance of a lasting peace that ends the conflict and resolves all claims.
- Palestinian efforts to delegitimize Israel will end in failure.
- Symbolic actions to isolate Israel at the United Nations in September won’t create an independent state.
- Palestinian leaders will not achieve peace or prosperity if Hamas insists on a path of terror and rejection.
- Palestinians will never realize their independence by denying the right of Israel to exist.
- Our friendship with Israel is rooted deeply in a shared history and shared values.
- Our commitment to Israel’s security is unshakeable.
- We will stand against attempts to single it out for criticism in international forums.
- No peace can be imposed upon the parties, not by the United States and not by anyone else.
- America and the international community must state frankly what everyone knows: a lasting peace will involve two states for two peoples. Israel as a Jewish state and the homeland for the Jewish people, and the state of Palestine as the homeland for the Palestinian people; each state enjoying self-determination, mutual recognition, and peace.
- The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states.
- The President endorsed strong security principles for negotiations, including:
- Every state has the right to self-defense, and Israel must be able to defend itself – by itself – against any threat.
- Security provisions must also be robust enough to prevent a resurgence of terrorism; to stop the infiltration of weapons; and to provide effective border security.
- The full and phased withdrawal of Israeli military forces should be coordinated with the assumption of Palestinian security responsibility in a sovereign, non-militarized state.
- The duration of this transition period must be agreed, and the effectiveness of security arrangements must be demonstrated.
- The agreement between Fatah and Hamas raises profound and legitimate questions for Israel – how can one negotiate with a party that has shown itself unwilling to recognize your right to exist. In the weeks and months to come, Palestinian leaders will have to provide a credible answer to that question.
Additional Talking points on the speech overall from other key sources
- Today, President Obama gave a major speech focusing on the Middle East and North Africa. President Obama views this as a moment of opportunity. Now that we have drawn down the war in Iraq and killed Osama bin Laden, we can close the book on a decade of division and welcome the peaceful, democratic change that is sweeping the area.
- President Obama was clear that it isn’t America that brought the people of that region into the streets – it was the people themselves who began the movements there and who have to determine their outcome. And that’s just as it should be. America can’t dictate the conclusion of those movements. But we can – and we will – talk about a set of core principles:
- America opposes the use of violence and repression;
- America supports a number of universal rights. Those universal rights include free speech; free assembly; freedom of religion; equality for women and men under the law; and the right to chose one’s own leaders.
- And America supports political and economic change in the Middle East and North Africa that will help the people of that region to realize their legitimate aspirations.
- America’s support for those principles is a top priority that has to be translated into concrete actions. Moving ahead, we have to bring together all our diplomatic, economic, and strategic tools in support of those core principles.
- President Obama was explicit that it will be the United States’ policy to support reform across the Middle East and North Africa and to stand behind transitions to democracy. Although the President will stand up for our core principles, America’s policies have to be pragmatic, realizing that every country is unique.
- President Obama talked about the specifics of the changes that we have seen taking place across the Middle East and North Africa:
- Libya: Time is not on Gaddafi’s side. He can’t reestablish control over Libya. The opposition has put together a legitimate and credible Interim Council that is committed to upholding democratic principles. And when Gaddafi unavoidably leaves power or is forced out of power, the new Libya will hold enormous promise.
- Syria: America has stepped up its sanctions on the Syrian regime – including sanctions recently announced on President Assad. President Assad is now faced with a choice: he can lead a transition, or he can move out of the way. To end the progression of delegitimization begun when peaceful demonstrators were shot, the Syrian government has to end its shooting of demonstrators and allow peaceful protests; it must release political prisoners and end unjustified arrests; it must give international human rights monitors and humanitarian workers access; and it must begin a serious dialogue that will move the ball forward on a democratic transition.
- Iran: Iran claims it stands up for the rights of protestors outside its borders, but it suppresses the people within them. The first peaceful protests to rock the region took place in Tehran, where the government brutalized innocent people. The Iranian people deserve their universal rights, and they deserve a government in keeping with their aspirations.
- Bahrain: The only way to move forward is for the government of Bahrain and the opposition to have a real discussion, and it’s impossible to have a real discussion when portions of the opposition are in prison. The government of Bahrain has to create the conditions for discussion, and the opposition has to be willing to take part. Both sides have to compromise to arrive at a just future.
- Iraq: In Iraq, there is the promise for a multi-ethnic, multi-sectarian democracy. The people of Iraq have rejected the trials of political violence in favor of a democratic process. And while the U.S. has pulled 100,000 troops out of that country, the people of Iraq have taken responsibility for their own security.
- Yemen: Those living in Yemen want a peaceful and orderly transfer of power. America is calling on President Saleh to sign and put into action the historic GCC-brokered transition agreement right away, so that the people of Yemen can bring about meaningful political change that gives them the security, stability, and prosperity they deserve.
- Even as America promotes political reform and human rights, we have to advance positive change in the Middle East and North Africa by supporting economic development for countries that make the transition to democracy. That is one smart way to promote democracy.
- Even as democratic revolutions come about because of a lack of individual opportunity, successful democratic transitions depend on creating the conditions for prosperity. That is a case for trade instead of aid, for investment rather than for assistance. That is why President Obama has put forth a new economic vision for the Middle East and North Africa – to support countries that make the transition to democracy, beginning with Egypt and Tunisia.
- The President’s approach is built on four critical pillars – support for improved economic management, support for greater economic stability, support for more economic modernization, and developing a framework for trade integration and investment.
- This Administration has put forth a set of initiatives that are targeted at supporting broader economic opportunity.
- Support for Greater Economic Stability: This Administration is stimulating financial support from international financial firms as well as Egypt and Tunisia’s neighbors, working to help those countries meet their short-term financial needs. In addition, this Administration eagerly anticipates seeing the joint action plan that multilateral development banks are putting together for the G8 summit outlining what has to be done to stabilize and modernize Tunisia and Egypt’s economies.
- Bilaterally: This Administration plans to relieve Egypt of as much as $1 billion in debt by putting together a debt swap agreement that will swap the debt in a way that enables Egypt to invest those resources in job creation and entrepreneurship.
- Support for More Economic Modernization: This Administration is partnering with Congress to create Enterprise Funds to jumpstart private sector investment in Tunisia and Egypt. Those Enterprise Funds are modeled after funds that helped enable the transitions in Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall. And this Administration will refocus the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development so that it offers support for democratic transitions and economic modernization in the Middle East and North Africa.
- And, as Secretary Clinton said in Cairo in March, OPIC will offer up to $2 billion in financial support for private sectors in the area.
Development of a Framework for Trade Integration and Investment: This Administration will undertake a comprehensive Trade and Investment Partnership Initiative in the Middle East and North Africa. It will begin step-by-step initiatives that enable stronger trade within the region, build on existing agreements to support additional integration with U.S. and European markets, and enable countries that adopt high standards of reform and trade liberalization to put together a regional trade agreement. - At a moment when people across the Middle East and North Africa are casting aside the burdens of the past, that effort has to include a lasting peace. We cannot truthfully say that peoples’ universal rights are being recognized when Israelis are forced to live in fear and Palestinians are stateless.
- We know the basic shape of a fair and lasting settlement. Two states for two peoples. Israel serving as a secure homeland for the Jewish people. Palestine serving as an independent homeland for the Palestinian people.
- Although the central issues of the conflict have to be negotiated, the foundation for those negotiations is clear: a viable Palestine and a secure Israel. The borders of Israel and Palestine ought to be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed upon exchanges, so that secure and recognizable borders are made for both states. Israel has to be able to defend itself – by itself – against threats. And provisions have to be made to prevent a revival of terrorism; to end the infiltration of weapons; and to offer effective border security.
- In the end, those are choices that have to be made across the whole region – choices between hate and hope; between the prisons of the past, and the promise of what lies ahead. Those choices must be made by leaders and by peoples, and the choices they make will determine the future of an area that was the cradle of civilization and a crucible for modern conflict.
- America was established on the conviction that people should govern themselves. Now, we have to stand on the side of those who are reaching for that right.
Personal thoughts/reflections: again – I’ll post to my blog tonight.
