Wordless Wednesday: Obamamania Goes Gaza
The sun never sets on the Barack empire: When is the last time you saw an American president celebrated in every time zone, including on mugs in the Gaza Strip? "Come and drink the Palestinian coffee," the imprint on the mug says, "with the flavor of the U.S. presidential election."
Obama might not be too thrilled about sharing coffee mugs with Yaser Arafat, though the shop owner himself might not be too thrilled about hawking Obama merchandise now that the president-elect has picked his chief of staff: Rahm Emanuel is a firebrand of a liberal congressman from Chicago's north side, but he is also the son of an Israeli doctor who was once a member of the Irgun, the Israeli militant, and occasionally terrorist, organization in pre-independence days. Emanuel eats Republicans for lunch, but his after-dinner drink is a snifter of memories with the flavor of Israel imprinted all over them.
For anyone who has doubts that Obama's policy toward Israel and the Palestinians will be a near-clone of his two predecessors, the Emanuel pick should put those doubts to rest. The difference is that unlike his two predecessors, Obama is more likely to have a mug of tea (or coffee) with Palestinians as easily as he would with Israelis. I'd drink to that.
Comments
How ironic - Americans are lambasted for saying or believing Obama was a Muslim, yet when the Arab world practically adopts him as king for the same silly rumor no one complains.
I think this is simplifying a very complex issue. I think that people around the world are just happy that our government might be run by a group of people that have the best interests of the world’s people in mind and not just securing oil in the middle east through any means possible. They are supporting rational behavior and not the fact that Obama was wrongly seen as muslim
jh
jh - I’m not saying they are right or wrong for thinking Obama will be a better president. My point is that I’ve read many endorsements from people on the ‘Arab street’ endorsing Obama for such reasons as his middle name, insistence that he IS Muslim, the color of his skin, etc. This is just as wrong as the Americans who were against Obama for the same reasons.
Well, let’s leave room for the fact that they’re adopting him because he is the son of a Muslim and a bi-racial man who nevertheless made it to the presidency, which restores a faith in America a good portion of the world had lost, and apparently mourned. Obama is their Lazarus. (How’s that for mixing metaphors and religions?)