[Given the enormity of the ongoing tragedy and the brazenness of Israel's war on Gaza, the stony silence on the part of Obama is quite understandably being considered as a huge moral failure no matter what could be the actual consequences of speaking up right now.
The reactions, however, widely vary. If Ayman al-Zawahiri has termed the Gaza massacre as a "gift" from Obama to the Palestinians/Arabs/Muslims all over the world - presumably being deeply threatened by the prospect of any reconciliation between the US/West and Muslims in general under the new US regime severely undercutting his raison d'être; Hugo Chavez strikes a far restrained note, deferring a final verdict for the time being, urging Obama to act when he actually takes over. Obama himself has now, at long last, promised to "hit the ground running" as soon as he assumes office. Given the huge influence that the Zionist lobby exercises in the US, Obama's dire compulsions to get his economic "stimulus package", and much else, get past by the largely conservative US Congress and the composition of the entourage he has chosen to be around him - Rahm Emanuel and Hillary Clinton in particular, it remains to be seen what sort of initiatives the President-elect has got in mind and has got the capacity to pursue. Undoubtedly Palestine is going to prove a much greater foreign policy challenge, on the immediate and medium terms at least, than Indo-Pak tensions or even Iraq/Afghanistan.] I. * http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/01/06/gaza.alqaeda/index.html?iref=mpstoryview * January 6, 2009 -- Updated 0337 GMT (1137 HKT) <http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/01/06/gaza.alqaeda/index.html?iref=mpstoryview> Al Qaeda message blames Obama, Egypt for Gaza violence - Story Highlights - Ten-minute message delivered by Ayman al-Zawahiri, a native of Egypt - In address, al-Zawahiri says violence a "gift" from Obama before he takes office - The message, on various Islamist Web sites, urges militants to rally against Israel - In Obama's first public reaction to the violence, he says he is "deeply concerned" *(CNN)* -- An audio message reportedly from al Qaeda's deputy chief vows revenge for Israel's air and ground assault on Gaza and calls the Jewish state's actions against Hamas militants "a gift" from U.S. President-elect Barack Obama. The speaker, identified as Ayman al-Zawahiri, addresses Muslims in Gaza. He said the violence "is one part of a series of a crusade war against Islam and these air strikes are a gift from Obama before he takes office, and (Egyptian President) Hosni Mubarak, that traitor, is the main partner in your siege and killing." The message, posted Tuesday on various Islamist Web sites with a picture of al-Zawahiri next to an image of a wounded child, urges militants to rally against Israel. "My Muslim brothers and mujahedeens in Gaza and all over Palestine, with the help of God we are with you in the battle, we will direct our strikes against the crusader Jewish coalition wherever we can." The 10-minute message also address Muslims worldwide, claiming that Obama was portrayed as "the savior who will come and change American policy" during the U.S. election but is now "killing your brothers and sisters in Gaza without mercy or even pity." Obama's transition team did not immediately respond to the message. Earlier Tuesday, the president-elect said he was "deeply concerned" about the loss of life in Gaza and Israel, and he promised to make the issue a top priority in his administration. It was Obama's first public reaction to the ongoing fighting between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza, which began with Israeli air strikes 11 days ago. He reiterated that only one president can speak for the United States at a time. "Starting at the beginning of our administration, we are going to engage effectively and consistently to try to resolve the conflicts that exist in the Middle East," Obama said. CNN Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson said the al Qaeda<http://www.printthis.clickability.com/http://topics.edition.cnn.com/topics/Al_Qaeda>message speaks to al-Zawahiri's cause in two ways: It bashes the new U.S. president before he takes office and it criticizes Mubarak, who has drawn al-Zawahiri's ire for not allowing goods and aid through Egypt's border with Gaza. Al-Zawahiri is a native of Egypt who has served jail time there. Robertson, who is reporting from the Israeli-Gaza border, noted on CNN's "Situation Room" that al-Zawahiri got the message out quickly -- "within 12 days, that's very fast." He said that indicated "there's many issues there that are dear to him." II. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gZN4ijTbw5vfRdrJen_wLSP0myWwD95IM0DG0 Chavez hopes Gaza situation improves under Obama By RACHEL JONES – 3 hours ago CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Hugo Chavez on Wednesday criticized the U.S. government for not stopping Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip and expressed hope the conflict will ease under the incoming administration. Chavez, who a day earlier expelled the Israeli ambassador to protest the Gaza offensive, said Venezuela hopes the situation will change once President-elect Barack Obama takes office. "We are going to wait until Mr. Obama arrives, to see if he uses all the empire's power to stop the aggression," he said, using the term he often employs to describe the U.S. Israel launched air and ground strikes on Gaza on Dec. 27 to stop the Palestinian militant group Hamas from firing rockets into southern Israel. After Venezuela announced it was kicking out Israeli Ambassador Shlomo Cohen and part of the embassy's personnel, Israel said it was considering expelling Venezuela's diplomats in response. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said Cohen was informed in writing that he and his diplomatic staff must leave Venezuela within 72 hours. He said the letter did not refer to any severing of diplomatic relations. David Scott Palmer, a Boston University international relations professor, said Chavez sees the action as having little or no downside. It serves to show Chavez's "solidarity with the Palestinians, with the Muslim world, and with most of his fellow members of OPEC," Palmer said. "The decision is unlikely to ruffle the feathers of the U.S. any more than usual." The long-tense relations between Venezuela and the U.S. reached a low in September, when Chavez withdrew his ambassador from Washington and expelled the U.S. envoy in a show of support for Bolivia, which had accused the U.S. of meddling in domestic affairs. U.S. officials denied the allegations. The socialist leader has since expressed hope relations will improve under Obama, but said Wednesday the new U.S. president will have to confront the situation in Gaza. "This is Obama's first test — along with the war in Iraq, and respect for the people of Latin America," he said. "We're not very optimistic," he added. Daniel Hellinger, a political scientist at Webster University in St. Louis, said Chavez's move "will only add another obstacle to restoring normal relations between the U.S. and Venezuela." But he added it is "not insurmountable." III. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/06/AR2009010602868_pf.html *Unintended Consequences Pose Risks for Mideast Policy *Obama Breaks His Silence, Vows to Work for Peace Deal By Glenn Kessler Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, January 7, 2009; A10 President-elect Barack Obama<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Barack+Obama?tid=informline>will inherit a perilous situation in the Middle East, with Israel<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/countries/israel.html?nav=el>under increasing pressure to halt its ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, key Arab leaders close to the United States greatly weakened and the Hamas<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Hamas?tid=informline>militant group earning resurgent popularity in the region. After days of studied silence on the Gaza conflict, Obama promised yesterday "to hit the ground running" on achieving a broad Middle East peace deal. "We are going to engage effectively and consistently in trying to resolve the conflicts that exist in the Middle East," he told reporters, adding that "the loss of civilian life in Gaza and Israel is a source of deep concern to me, and after January 20th I am going to have plenty to say about the issue." Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Condoleezza+Rice?tid=informline>traveled to the United Nations<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/United+Nations?tid=informline>yesterday to meet with Arab and European diplomats on possible terms of a truce, pressing the Bush administration's case that a cease-fire must be permanent and not grant Hamas the ability to rebuild its military arsenal. There is little indication that Obama and his team differ significantly from that approach. One of Obama's biggest challenges will be to craft diplomatic solutions that do not have unintended consequences. Good intentions go only so far in the Middle East, and today's battles often can be traced to choices made by the Israeli government or the Bush administration that ended up backfiring. In the 1980s, for instance, the Israeli government decided to weaken the secular Fatah<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Fatah+Organization?tid=informline>movement headed by Palestine Liberation Organization<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Palestine+Liberation+Organization?tid=informline>Chairman Yasser Arafat<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Yasser+Arafat?tid=informline>by promoting the rise of Islamic parties as a counterweight, on the theory that Islamic groups would not have the same nationalistic impulses. So Fatah's social networks were dismantled by the Israeli government, but it went easy on Islamic charitable networks. This decision fueled the rise of Hamas as a political force, with its network of health clinics and social services that far exceeded the abilities of the often-corrupt Fatah movement. "There's no question there was a degree of blowback," Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East negotiator and the author of "The Much Too Promised Land." Israel now wants to make a peace deal with Mahmoud Abbas<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Mahmoud+Abbas?tid=informline>, the Palestinian Authority<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Palestinian+National+Authority?tid=informline>president who heads Fatah but has no control over Gaza. So one of the Israeli aims in Gaza today is to weaken Hamas enough that it no longer can be a political rival to Fatah in Gaza -- precisely the opposite of what Israel hoped to achieve decades ago with its efforts to encourage the rise of Islamic groups. "This is not like a regime-change operation, but at the end of the day, the restoration of the Palestinian Authority back to Gaza should be on the agenda as a whole," said Jeremy Issacharoff, deputy chief of mission at the Israeli Embassy<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Israeli+Ministry+of+Foreign+Affairs?tid=informline>in Washington. Similarly, the Bush administration encouraged Israel to withdraw from Gaza and demolish its settlements there, arguing that it was a step forward on peace. But, as a condition, then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Ariel+Sharon?tid=informline>in 2004 demanded a letter from President Bush<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/George+W.+Bush?tid=informline>in which the United States conceded two critical peace issues on settlements and refugees to Israel. The Israeli government later cited the letter as giving implicit permission to continue some settlement expansion during peace talks brokered late in the Bush administration, undermining those efforts. The Bush administration also did not effectively push Israel to negotiate its 2005 withdrawal from Gaza with Abbas, who had just been elected president after Arafat died. Abbas wanted to demonstrate that he could negotiate with the Israelis, but Jerusalem withdrew from Gaza unilaterally, as had been the plan when Arafat was still alive. Ghaith al-Omari, a former top Abbas aide, remembers bitterly that Hamas strung up a huge banner after Israeli troops departed: "Three Years of Intifada Beat Ten Years of Negotiations." "Hamas took all the credit for the withdrawal," Omari said. "It was a clear strategic mistake." Then the United States pushed for legislative elections in the Palestinian territories in early 2006, hoping for a demonstration of democracy on the march in the Middle East. The Israelis tried to sound a warning about including Hamas on the election list. In October 2005, then-Justice Minister Tzipi Livni<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Tzipi+Livni?tid=informline>(now foreign minister) flew to Washington to plead that Hamas not be permitted to run, only to be told by U.S. officials: "Don't worry, Hamas won't win." Hamas defeated Fatah, instantly elevating its status and spawning the crisis that led to today's conflict. Hamas eventually took over all of Gaza, giving it the ability to terrorize Israeli cities with increasingly sophisticated rockets. Now, some experts say, the seeds of more conflict will be planted without careful diplomacy by the incoming U.S. administration. Abbas, who was at the United Nations yesterday pleading for an immediate cease-fire, had seen his popularity rise in recent months, but the Israeli invasion has once again turned Hamas into Arab heroes. Arab leaders in Egypt<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/countries/egypt.html?nav=el>, Jordan and Saudi Arabia<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/countries/saudiarabia.html?nav=el>-- who hold no fondness for Hamas -- face growing pressure at home to condemn Israel as Palestinian deaths climb. "The Gaza crisis has weakened all those on the Arab side who would be Obama's partners," said Martin Indyk, author of "Innocent Abroad," a just-published memoir of serving as a peace negotiator in the Clinton administration. "Obama will have to mobilize Arab leaders in support of a major effort" to resolve the conflict. Otherwise, he said, groups such as Hamas -- who are threatened by Obama's popularity in the Arab world -- "will brand him as the same as George Bush." To avoid previous pitfalls, Indyk said, "you have to stay flexible. You cannot know how the actions of the superpower will affect the leaders of the region. You push on one door -- and another door will open." 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