President Obama at AIPAC

Before the adults take the stage, let's hear from Karl Rove, who criticized President Obama for using the "language of the Left" in characterizing Israel as "occupying the West Bank" and using the language of "those who hate Israel."

Steve Benen at Washington Monthly countered with this quote from Ariel Sharon, who said in 2003,"You can not like the word, but what is happening is an occupation--to hold 3.5 million Palestinians under occupation."

Newt Gingrich called President Obama's comments on Thursday "disasterous", saying that God never wanted Israel divided.

Former New York Mayor Ed Koch said he might have to support a pro-Israel Republican if there is one who doesn't adopt austerity economics.

The head of the Zionist Organizations of America demanded that AIPAC rescind the invitation to the President to speak today.

Andrea Mitchell is picking up on the distaste Americans felt about Bibi Netanyahu "lecturing the President like a schoolboy."

People should be reminded that it's not a great idea to be scheduled to speak after President Obama. Bibi Netanyahu will have to wait until tomorrow. I wouldn't like to bet that he will be better received than President Obama was today at AIPAC.

President Obama gave a strong, eloquent defense of his position on Israel and the urgent need to advance the peace process. It was one of his most coherent, lengthy addresses in a while since he only had to focus on a single issue. Despite all the critics and the manufactured tension, the AIPAC audience frequently interrupted the speech with strong applause. The President did not back away from his statements concerning the 1967 borders but elaborated on its meaning and how this was the template for negotiations since the Clinton Administration.

President Obama built the speech by first outlining the strategic importance of Israel to the United States and then to our moral commitment to the state of Israel and the common values that bind both nations. This was giving the audience the red meat.

President Obama reiterated America's commitment to Israel's security and our commitment to the survival of Israel as a strong,secure homeland of the Jewish people. And here he inserted specific steps the Administration has done, which his critics have conveniently or deliberately ignored. He has increased the cooperation between the two militaries--the U.S. and Isreal--and provided Israel with our most advance technologies. He increased the foreign military financing to record levels. And he mentioned how the United States and Israel developed the Iron Dome anti-rocket system that has already thwarted missile attacks on Israel. You might remember this from the whole Star Wars flap when neo-cons claimed Obama had abandoned missile defense systems both for Israel and Europe. Which of course he didn't. He pledged that the United States would always help Israel maintain its qualitative edge in military technology.

He outlined how the Administration has created the strongest sanctions against Iran and how he was absolutely committed to preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. (It should be noted that Israel has an estimateed 250 nuclear devices and Iran zero at this point.) And he talked about efforts to stem Iran's support for Hezbollah and other terrorist groups.

He committed the United States to oppose any attempts at the United Nations to de-legitimize the state of Israel. He said that the United States would stand up against efforts to single out Israel at the United Nations.

He recognized that Israel has a problem with negotiating with an entity that includes a "terrorist" group and said that the United States will insist Hamas accept the basic responsibility of peace --recognize Israel's right to exist, reject violence, adhere to existing agreements and release Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

But the status quo is unsustainable. He cited three basic facts, which indicate that peace must be obtained soon.

First, the number of Palestinians living west of the Jordan is growing rapidly and fundamentally reshaping the demographic realities of Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Second, Technology will make it harder for Israel to defend itself in the absence of genuine peace.

Third, which I found most compelling, a new generation of Arabs are reshaping the region so that a just and lasting peace can no longer be forged with one or two Arab leaders alone. This generation of Arabs must see peace obtained so that it can be maintained in the future.

He pointed out that the Palestinians are pursuing United Nations recognition because of the world's impatience to see peace achieved. He did note that the Administration would hold the Palestinians accountable for their rhetoric.

He brought up the whole issue of the 1967 borders and said that they would have to include land-swaps and the borders would have to be negotiated between Israel and the Palestinians.

"We can not wait another decade, or another two decades, or three decades, to achieve peace. The world is moving too fast. The extraordinary challenges facing Israel would only grow. Delay will only undermine Israel's security and the peace that the Israeli people deserve."

Good luck, Bibi, in trying to top that.

The speech would hardly qualify in the words of Mitt Romney as throwing "Israel under the bus." In fact, I could not think of a stronger defense of Israel than the President gave and still be responsible to the issue of Israel's real security. I would like to hear from the Israeli Prime Minister, on how specifically he is enhancing the security of his own country since everything his government does seems to undermine it.

Be interesting to see how the Wild Things react to the speech and how his words can be misconstrued. The whole speech is worth accessing on line.

Follow-up tributes to Doug Payne

Thanks to all who responded to the news of Doug Payne's death. In the world of the internet, some of the responses were surprising, especially the locations. A colleague of ours, remembering Doug's human rights work in Central and Latin America, e-mailed me from an out island of the Phillippines as a typhoon hit. The name for the typhoon Doug would have appreciated--Angela Jolie. Moose Kaplan called from Paris to recall Doug visiting his English class in the Bronx and entering his primarily Hispanic classroom, who enjoyed Doug's stories. One e-mail was from Singapore.

Calling through his laptop was George Zarycky, the current USAID Director for Democracy Programs in Armenia. George for many years wrote all the country reports on Central Europe and the former Republics of the Soviet Union for Freedom House's Survey of Freedom. I guess he had survived his work in the Ukraine, probably stirring up the Orange Revolution.

Others e-mailed about his work for indigenous people and particularly those marginalized or dispossessed in our world. And of course mention was made to his comprehensive view of the Caribbean and its politics.

I tried to tally up the number of heads of state Doug and I had met either separately or together. This did not include guerrilla leaders or opposition political party leaders. I stopped at four dozen a piece. What was striking about this was that I don't recall Doug ever expressing any admiration for any of them. And to be frank, I can only think of Vaclav Havel and the Dalai Lama as the two admirable figures I have met and for whom I have continued respect. I think alot of it has to do with a mutual awareness that politics is by nature corrupt and corrupting.

A few things I omitted in my tribute to him. I forgot he organized the improbable trip of Mayor Ed Koch through Central America in support of the Arias Peace Plan. Nobel Peace Prize winner Oscar Arias thought it was hilarious that Mayor Koch showed up at the presidential palace wthout any socks on, while wearing dress shoes. He had run out of clean socks but that didn't deter Hizzoner. I was also called to task by one of Doug's friends for not mentioning that Doug visited Cuba to assist the democratic underground and human rights activists there by travelling through the Bahamas as a tourist. In the process, he decided to travel throughout the island, particularly the rural areas.

In my last e-mail to him, I sent a declaration by Eden Pastora, "Commandante Cero"the famed Sandinista guerrilla, then anti-Sandinista guerrilla and shark hunter, who vowed to come out of retirement to liberate Honduras from the golpistas. He quipped,"Whose going to be Commadante Uno?" We sponsored a trip for Eden Pastora to New York and Washington during the heat of the Central American wars and Doug and I had to finesse Pastora away from running off for dalliances with some of the female journalists, whom he was always trying to seduce. We caught the Commandante flagrante delicto with a journalist on top of the conference table in a small meeting room at Freedom House.

It's important to remember that when Doug started work on Latin America he knew next to nothing about it, except his fine appreciation of magical realism, and in a few short years became an authentic expert with a comprehensive knowledge of its politics and culture. He was sought out over the years for background briefings by many well-known journalists, some of whom capitalized on his knowledge and his contacts to keep their sputtering careers going. He was widely quoted and interviewed on television and radio. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he and I recorded a series of radio shows for syndication covering a range of topics from democratization, the revolutions in Central Europe, the progress in Central and Latin America and issues facing American foreign policy. One wonders what we could have done if the world wide web existed at its present capacity.