US President-elect evades Gaza challenge

Dashed hopes for a balanced U.S. Middle East policy seem to be all what Arabs can expect from Obama's administration, to be sworn in three weeks after the Gaza massacre.

Despite the eruption of unprecedented violence in the history of Israel's occupation of Palestine, Barack Obama is reported to continue vacationing in Hawaii with his family, notifying his admin team to inform reporters and the world that he must remain in silent mode until he is sworn in.

Allies till the end

David Axelrod, Obama's top political advisor told reporters after Gaza violence erupted that it would be inappropriate for the president-elect to comment while George Bush is still in office.

And yet, Obama did speak out according to his advisor, who chose his words carefully to inform American news agencies that Obama's support of Israel and its current military offensive on Gaza stands.

"He said then that when bombs are raining down on your citizens there is an urge to respond and act to put an end to that," Axelrod told CBS talk show Face the Nation on Sunday.

"That's what he said then, and that’s what he believes."

Axelrod's comments were in reference to Obama's which he gave at a press conference in Sderot, a frequent target of rocket attacks, during his visit to Israel in July of 2008. Obama was quoted by the press as saying:

"If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I'm going to do everything in my power to stop that,” he said, adding that “[t]he state of Israel faces determined enemies who seek its destruction, but it also has a friend and ally in the United States that will always stand by the people of Israel.”

Yet with the ongoing and unyielding Israeli assault of Gaza, the same could be said for Palestinians being massacred in the Strip, whose casualties far exceed those Israel faces at the hands of mostly ineffective Qassam rockets.

Arab/Muslim condemnation

The Bush administration blamed Hamas for the upsurge in violence in Gaza, criticizing the organization for breaching a six-month ceasefire agreement and re-launching rocket attacks on Israel.

The Arab world and Muslim world, however, reacted with rage to the aggressive Israeli counterattacks, which have left at least 375 Palestinians dead and more than 1550 wounded. Huge protests in almost all Arab and Muslim countries were held in the past three days against Israel, the U.S. and Arab leaders.

Asked about the degree to which Obama would offer Israel support, Axelrod said that "They're a great ally of ours... And that is a fundamental principle from which he'll work. But he will do so in a way that will promote the cause of peace, and work closely with the Israelis and the Palestinians on that."

However, analysts say that while Israel can count on firm support from the Bush administration and from Obama's, the United States cannot prevent the inflamed tensions against itself and Israel from undermining high hopes which Arabs and Muslims had for change in the U.S. course in the region under Obama, which could lead to further attacks.