Gaza: what can Obama do?

Image: theisraelprojectgallery.

Despite pressure from around the world, US president-elect Barack Obama has remained quiet about Israel's offensive in Gaza since the attack began. On Sunday, in an interview with American channel ABC, he simply promised to get involved in the affair once he takes power. Can he, and will he revolutionise America's foreign policy in the region? Should he start talks with Hamas? Our Observers in the area at hand tell us what they think.

Yes We Can... end the occupation

Pro-Palestine protest in Chiago. Photo posted on Flickr 2 January byTom Callahan.

"I don't think Obama's planning to do any harm to Israel"

Niv Calderon lives in Tel Aviv. He supports the Israeli offensive by "fighting" the online battle.

If I were American, I would have voted for him. His charisma, intelligence and vision of the world is a good thing for the US. I'd like to have a leader like him.

The friendship between his country and mine is not only very strong, it's also irreplaceable. I don't think Obama's planning to do any harm to Israel. On the contrary, on his last visit here, he came to Sderot, the town targeted by Hamas missiles. He expressed his solidarity with the residents and said that they have the same problem in the States, and he'd do everything to stop the attacks. That's what Israel's doing today by fighting a group that wants to destroy us. I don't know if Obama will gain anything by talking to Hamas, but you never know - realpolitik is unpredictable.

I'm neither optimistic nor pessimistic, I don't know what he's got planned, we'll judge him on his actions and I hope he manages to sort out the problems. I know he's engaged people who worked in the Clinton administration who've got experience with the region. From Israel, Obama looks great. I believe in Obama the man, not the brand."

"Obama's not a super hero"

Ghassan Abdullah is an IT engineer from Ramallah.

Despite Barack Obama's good intentions, I don't expect anything good to come from the US. I'm currently reading a book he wrote, about his impressive journey, and yes we will surely see lots of good things, but he's not a super hero. He remains, like all his predecessors, constricted under pressure from various lobbies.

And when you look at the people that he's put in his team, thinking of Ram Emmanuel, I wonder how he's going to be able to stand up to a pro-Israeli lobby. Diplomatically, the US prefers, as Kissinger once said, to control instability, to act as a referee. I doubt Obama will begin talks with Hamas before Iran. The Americans are only interested in oil, and they will act in their interests as usual."