By Mohamed Khodr

"Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, can not long retain it." — Abraham Lincoln

“Right and wrong are the same in Palestine as anywhere else. What is peculiar about the Palestine conflict is that the world has listened to the party that has committed the offence and has turned a deaf ear to the victims." —  Arnold Toynbee

Dear President Obama:

Peace Be With You, your family, our nation, and all of humanity as we prepare to celebrate Our Independence Day, a day illegally denied to so much of humanity, but none more so unjust and cruel than our illegally and immorally supported Israeli occupation of millions of Palestinians in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the besieged concentration camp we call Gaza.    

The world is quite cognizant of the power and influence Israel and its powerful lobbies and Congressional allies hold on our foreign policy toward the Mideast and the Muslim world. Yet, in your destiny to become our President you have the innate intelligence, ability, charisma, and oratory skills to become the agent of change, the one to dare to accomplish the divine duty of justice for all, at home and abroad.  

No greater need for your audacity to challenge injustice is needed than to end what the world knows to be the cruelest of  injustice upon a hapless population who lost their nation by force and ethnic cleansing, not even sparing their churches and mosques, nor their cemeteries where generations of their ancestors are buried–the victimized, demonized, unseen and unheard cries of Palestinians living under the brutalism of a heartless regime, a regime we Americans fund, support, and protect as they unleash their military power at whim knowing their actions are above all divine and human laws. We Americans subsidize their continued war crimes as they invade their neighbors, bomb with banned weapons, fly into sovereign nations to destroy as they deem, knowing full well our government will stand behind their “right to defend themselves.”
 
Mr. President, you chose to challenge Israel on the simplest and safest issue deemed illegal even by most Israeli’s: the Settlements. Yet, even in this small matter Israel is wielding enough strength to force your retreat and compromise being shameless in insulting the very hand that feeds it. This superpower nation is paralyzed to even force a food convoy of milk and medicines through an Israeli border crossing to feed a Palestinian infant. History tells us that Israel has the power to withstand Presidents as long as Congress, Wall Street, and the media ensure its lies and propaganda are the sole "true" narratives reaching the White House or Main Street.

Today, Amnesty International joins every other international human rights body, including those in Israel in portraying Israel’s Pre Planned devastation in Gaza as a war crime. Two days ago Israel again violated International Law by hijacking a ship, the "Spirit of Humanity", in International waters that carried emergency aid to Gaza and imprisoned its human rights activists including Cynthia McKinney whom you know was a six term former Congresswoman and Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Laureate and other activists from several nations.

What would you do Mr. President if Iran committed this crime?  

You, Mr. President, chose, like our media to remain silent on this outrageous act of piracy. Is might more powerful than right in our democracy, the democracy you spoke of so passionately in your speech to the Muslim world? Is your support among Jewish Americans, your legislative agenda that will be watered down to negligibility or defeated, or your re-election more valued by you than the lives of young girls in Palestine who are as worthy in the eyes of God as your two precious daughters? Elie Wiesel said; “Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”

America voted for you in hope and out of despair, sadly our nation after the vote hibernates back to its self serving niche believing their deed is done and the elected will do the right thing.  Tragically, after the elected move to the bubble of D.C. they become the pawns of the very special interests you railed against in your campaign.

As long as Israel occupies Palestine and our capitol, America will never know peace and will always be on the verge of fighting another Mideast or Muslim nation to serve Israel’s and not our national interest. The key to an enduring peace with the entire Muslim world begins, as you well know, with ending Israel’s decade’s long oppressive and inhumane occupation of Palestinians allowing their own July 4th celebration.    

All it takes President Obama for a series of events to occur to liberate Palestinians, our foreign policy, and our freedom from fear to debate Israel is ONE, just one, Oval office speech on the issue. You will be shocked and surprised at the outpouring of support of the American people who just need a courageous leader to unleash their oppressed voice in support of freedom and security for all in the Holy Land. Is Barack, the blessed one, the man of destiny, the deliverer of peace for the Holy Land? Should we have the audacity to hope for such?

“I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts." — Abraham Lincoln

God bless you, your family, and this planet yearning for peace.

-Mohamed Khodr contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.