The Primaries Are Over; Obama is The Candidate

Thankfully, Obama's choice as the Democratic nominee for President is now a foregone conclusion. The burning question now is whether Hillary will make a graceful exit by June 3, one calculated to enable her fiercely loyal supporters (poorer Whites and elderly women) to at least vote for Obama rather than McCain. Those who distrust the Clintons and see them mostly as a self-interest political couple bent on reliving their White House years, fear that Hillary will try passively or covertly to undermine Obama, setting McCain up for a 2008 win, and her for a 2012 comeback.

The optimists among us believe that she will, as she had said: "Work tirelessly for a victory for the party's anointed candidate."

The outcome of the vote in December depends on one thing: Will the media and debates be focused on the primary issues facing the nation, or will it be muddied by extremely personal, religious and racial attacks on Obama. On the issues (Iraq,Iran,taxes, energy policies,global warming, foreclosures, the overall econmy, etc.), Obama should emerge as the decisive winner. The big question is whether the lower and middle class Whites who voted overwhelmingly for Hillary in the primaries, will resort to being Reagan Democrats and vote for McCain rather than a Black candidate. I say this, because as distasteful as it is to say this, many of Hillary's supporters in Pennsylvania and West Virginia seem willing to go against their own self-interest, rather than vote for a Black man.

Only the strongest support of Hillary for Obama has the chance of overcoming this predilection, which could restore the Republicans to another 4 years of power.

A New Middle East; A Challenging Call for Change

This article recently appeared in a major United Arab Emirate newspaper. Please see my response following the article, and the Sultan's response to me.


Welcoming our long-gone neighbors

By Sultan Al Qassemi

Many of us have heard of the famous advertising empire known as Saatchi & Saatchi, laughed at the jokes of Jerry Seinfeld, tapped our feet to the beats of Paula Abdul and shopped at Max Azria's BCBG stores. So what do all these successful people from various industries have in common? They are all of Arab origins.

The Jewish presence in what is now the Arab world dates back thousands of years; in fact, the very religion was founded in this region. Arab Muslims, Christians and Jews have been living in peace and harmony for centuries, so what happened? In short, after the violent wave of European anti-Semitism in the mid-20th century there was an exodus of European Jewry into historic Palestine, much of it forced, armed and violent, led by groups such as the Haganah and the Irgun (who were responsible for the bombing of the King David Hotel).

Unfortunately, many Muslim Arabs from across the region reacted violently to these developments and decided to reciprocate; as a result, Jews who were living among them were shunned and assaulted. In Iraq, for example, about 120,000 Jews were compelled to emigrate to Israel, the U.S. and Europe in just less than three years.
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The streets of Cairo, the historic neighborhoods of Syria, the mountainous terrain of Lebanon and the bustling markets of Baghdad were, for the first time in thousands of years, emptied of one of the most successful ethnic minorities living within their communities. Doctors, architects, businessmen, scientists, poets and writers started to pack up and leave, some with good reason and some to avoid the repercussions of the founding of the state of Israel.

It wasn't all bad blood between the Arabs and the Jews; in fact, there were stories of heroism that have gone unreported and unnoticed in the Arab media. In the midst of the horrors of the Nazi occupation of France in the 1940s, the imam of the Paris Mosque saved the lives of scores of Jews by issuing certificates stating that they were Muslim. In Tunis, entire Jewish families were saved by a local hero, Khaled Abdelwahhab, who hid them in his farm at great risk to himself and his family; he was honored posthumously for his bravery by the Anti-Defamation League. As a result of such actions, fewer than 1 percent of the Jews of Arabia - who numbered in the hundreds of thousands - perished compared to more than 50 percent of the Jews of Europe.

Since then, there has been predominantly negative coverage of Judeo-Arab relations. Europe, after the Second World War, was able to turn the page almost immediately, yet many Arabs still paint all Jews with the same brush used for Israelis.

In 1975, in the wake of the death of the Egyptian revolutionary leader Gamal Abdel Nasser, many countries in which he had financed and encouraged revolutions shed the burden of his pan-Arab nationalism and scaremongering and decided to take action in order to restore the social unity of their countries. The pre-Saddam Iraqi Revolution Command Council issued advertisements in The New York Times and elsewhere inviting Jews to return to their home countries and guaranteeing their rights. Anwar Sadat's Egypt and Hafez Al Assad's Syria also issued such statements.

In recent history, only the two forward-thinking Middle Eastern kingdoms of Morocco and Bahrain have broken the mold of suspicion toward their Jewish citizens and integrated them into the social and political spheres. The former with the case of Andre Azoulay, an adviser to the previous and current kings; and the latter with the recent appointment of Huda Ezra Ebrahim Nonoo as the new Bahraini ambassador to America.

Today in New York City alone there are more than 75,000 Jews of Syrian origin, many of them educated in the best schools, who speak or understand Arabic and still have an affinity for Syria. Is it not possible to imagine that such persons have the right, if they so choose, to be full citizens of Syria?

Is it not time to reassure the Jews of Arab origin that their ancestral homes are mature enough to welcome them back if they decide to invest, visit or even take up citizenship? If football players who spend a few months in the Middle East are given citizenship, shouldn't people who have a natural birthright, tremendous wealth, and valuable education and skills be accorded the same?

Of course such statements will be met with criticism and reminders of what the Israelis are doing to our Palestinian brothers and sisters. To that one can reply that in the Middle East, no one has been more cruel and violent to Arabs, more exploitive of the Palestinians and more manipulative of their cause than Arabs themselves. Have we forgotten that it was Iraq that invaded Kuwait, Egypt that encouraged bloody revolutions throughout the region and mostly militants from the Arabian Peninsula who perpetrated atrocious crimes of terrorism in Iraq? We ourselves have been the victims of unfair generalizations by the Western media - but should we learn from past lessons, or should we continue to reciprocate?

Sultan Al Qassemi is a Sharjah-based businessman and graduate of the American University of Paris. He is founder of Barjeel Securities, Dubai, and can be reached at sultan.alqassemi@gmail.com. This article originally appeared in The Nation.

My Response"

Dear Sir,

I read with admiration and respect your suggestion that Jews who formerly lived in Arab countries should be asked to return. You so clearly represent a tradition of humanistic and civilized thinking that one sees returning to the Arab world and their spokesmen.

After living in Israel for 20 years ,during which terrible conflicts left one thinking all Arabs are bent on Jewish/Israeli destruction, I have for 3 years been on a Saudi education board, led by a Prince of the Royal Family. Here I have met and worked with a number of prominent Saudis, and been welcomed warmly with real friendship and consideration. I have found them to be very concerned, caring people,with a great sense of humor. Like so many enlightened people, they are struggling, with some considerable success, to move their nation toward a more modern, just and compassionate future.

I take every opportunity I can to inform my Jewish friends of the reception I have received in Saudi Arabia. Obviously, many Israelis trading in Qatar, Dubai and other centers have already discovered, and are renewing the traditional ties between Jews and Arabs.

Is there some way we can help promote this process? Help the Palestinians to see the tremendous potential a peaceful resolution with Israel could bring them? Promote trade and relations with Israel, so they can stop believing they are threatened with annihilation?

With warmest regards and gratitude

Forrest Broman

The Sultan's Response to my note:

Dear Forrest

Thank you Sir for the kind words. I am greatly encouraged by many of the replies. The fact that the article appeared in a UAE government owned newspaper says a lot. They have also asked to contact President Perez to write an official article on the 60th anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel to appear in the very newspaper. I hope for peace but I will also write and lobby for peace for as long as I can.

Kind regards

Sultan Al-Qassemi

P.S. I would appreciate it if your reply appeared under the article so that Haaretz and the other commentators read positive replies as well.






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South Carolina Speaks Loudly

Obama has surprised us all again, and renewed our faith in America and in politics. His SC speech is in itself transforming---and the NYT report of Caroline Kennedy's endorsement is indicative of the rise of the younger generation into political action..Hard to imagine how any other candidate in either party can even come close to Obama's ability to uplift, enthuse and activate voters, across the spectrum.

This does not mean he is a shoe-in to capture the nomination. He can hardly have the intense, immediate impact on all 22 states voting Feb. 5, so the existing machine still has a presumptive advantage. But notice how fired up the news media (MSNBC,CNN and Fox) and anchors are about Obama's message and his ability to deliver it. Combined with their resentment at Bill Clinton's antics and distortions, the media could make the difference to Obama on Feb. 5.

The primary results, and the general election might come down to the significant leap in the participation of age 18-24 voters, and their strong inclination to back Obama. More than any other sector of our society, these younger Americans are relatively free of the old attitudes and the racism that seem to many to make Obama's victory an impossible dream. Let's remember how improbable JFK's victory appeared early in the primaries, and how only Obama has a comparable ability to inspire us all to work for a better nation.





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The Obama Phenomenon: A Defining Moment

Whether or not Barack Obama wins the Democratic nomination, or the subsequent election, he has already changed American politics forever. Forgetting race for the moment, he has galvanized a rapidly expanding cadre of Americans who want to believe again that the policies and decisions of the US government can be liberated from the greedy grasp of corporate lobbyists and special interests. This is a hard sell among a dispirited and cynical public who have seen energy policy, the war in Iraq, illegal immigration, FEMA relief, health care and the economy held hostage to very narrow, corporate interests. Barack's political genius is his consummate ability to convince millions of people that special interests can be brought down as the arbiter of American policy, and to reconnect the younger generation to political activism.

But seeing a Black American gather tremendous support in states mostly made up of white voters is the real miracle of Obama's ascendancy. Tremendous gains have been made since 1960 in the ability of Black Americans to work their way into the middle class, through education and equal rights legislation. But racism persists in America, stifling the lives and futures of far to many young Blacks, and particularly the young Black men who fill our prisons, and the 50% who never complete a secondary education.

Obama wisely never plays the race card. But the startling symbolism of a young and relatively inexperienced young Black man, with a Law degree from Harvard Law School, turning the most exciting American electoral process in years on its ear, is a powerful, healing proof that the American dream lives on. One cannot imagine an election in any other country where a minority person could be so strongly supported by an overwhelming majority with excellent candidates from their own ethnic group.

As an American who witnessed in the Fifties and Sixties the fierce obstacles preventing Blacks from economic and political success, and the blatant racism that Black Americans faced in every aspect of their lives, I am thrilled to see the Obama phenomenon unfold. However it ends, his popularity is proof that a huge majority of Americans have moved beyond racial prejudice, so substantially that they can embrace a dynamic Black leader seeking the nation's highest office. In this is a reassurance that America is indeed, despite its flaws, the last, best hope for mankind.

Our Responsibilities in This Presidential Election

Isn't it time we swallow our narrow political ideologies and recognize the commitment, the idealism and the will to make the USA a better country that drives every one of these presidential candidates? Think of the time, the energy, the crap they have to put up with to be in this race. And for the one who wins, try to imagine the colossal task of trying to manage the affairs of the world's greatest superpower at this moment in time.

Yet we join a spiteful, divisive media, and hacks on the right and left like Hannerty, Chris Matthews, Tucker and many others, in seizing on every word of our least favored candidate that can be misconstrued, and pouncing gleefully on every gaffe, mistake or change of mind.

We talk about uniting the country; than we join every day the crowd of media miscreants who feed on sharpening divisions and aggravating the natural tensions among competing parties and candidates. Shouldn't we at least set a new standard for ourselves, who should represent at our age some wisdom and maturity. Shouldn't we start to focus on the issues rather than the personalities, foibles or human mistakes which makes every active person vulnerable.

If we could stand in their shoes for even one day, we might appreciate the overwhelming burden these candidates have assumed in trying to represent and lead our country.

Trends in the American Elections of 2008

A surprising shift ocurred over the last few months in the issues that Americans believe are most important in this election. Despite the opinion of 2/3 of all Americans that the war in Iraq is a mistake and should be ended, this is no longer the dominant concern of US voters. Illegal immigration and creating a safe border with Mexico has now emerged as the primary focus of voter concern.

Thanks to the dogged criticism and revelations of Lou Dobbs and Glenn Beck on CNN, a majority of Americans of all political stripes are now convinced that the US must finally close and secure the border with Mexico and prevent the movement of drugs, people and perhaps terrorists over what has been a wide open frontier. In fact, they were so incensed by the recent attempt of President Bush, Teddy Kennedy and John McCain to pass what came to be called "Amnesty" legislation for illegals already in the country, that public opinion forced an early and decisive defeat of the bill.

It has seemed clear to me for some time that the winner of this presidential election will have to take a very strong stand on securing the border with Mexico and preventing the drug traffic and the wholesale violence it breeds. Border towns on both sides are awash in drug-related violence, and the Laredo area has witnessed over 70 kidnappings of American citizens over the past 2 years, none of them solved or found. (See the film "No Country for Old Men," a great movie touching this issue)

The issue is more problematic for Democrats than for Republicans, in spite of the President's toleration of the status quo. Both Obamba and Hillary stumbled badly in November in supporting the NY State governor's proposal to grant drivers' licenses to illegal immigrants. Attacked by his own Democratic party members, the governor withdrew the legislation. Many democrats, independents and republicans are incensed over the costs taxpayers bear for the education, medical care, tax-free incomes and other financial benefits many states afford illegals. The high crime rate among this group, and the fact that in California alone over 50% of the prison population are illegal immigrants compounds the anger.

Among the leading candidates, Mitt Romney has taken the strongest stand on stopping illegal immigration and securing the border. Once the primaries are over, you will see this issue mushroom into one of the defining issues of the 2008 elections. And if the recession that looks increasingly likely comes into play, the war in Iraq may slip further down the list of issues that will dominate this election.

On Administrators Impacting Student Learning

By far the most significant influence any head will ever have on student learning in his/her school rests in hiring the very best teachers one can find, and retaining only those who demonstrate a high level of teaching competence.

In far too many of our schools the public school standard is applied to rehiring decisions: Is this person bad enough to let go? The question should be: Has this person demonstrated a teaching ability (measured by student learning) that at least comes close to the school's aspirations?

The biggest obstacle is this: You can become very unpopular letting go nice people doing a "reasonable" job, stoking the fears and paranoia of all the teachers, egged on by those who are leaving and their supporters. Suddenly you are the target, and the attempts to undermine your efforts can be ferocious.

The only way to counter this phenomenon is to make it very clear what the bar is for successful teaching at your school; and to constantly reinforce your appreciation of the staff who are doing outstanding work. But no amount of effort will increase the "popularity" of a head making tough decisions on retaining mediocre staff.

My advice (having been a staff target for much of my career): When you look in the mirror every day, ask yourself if you and your principals are doing all you can to ensure that every kid is interacting with effective and superior teachers. Providing this is ultimately your only reward---but it's the only one that really counts!

Kevin Bartlett recently acted on these convictions at IS Brussels:

"The other thing we are trying to do along similar lines (feeling backed by Collins in Good to Great and the Social Sector, who says that it’s tough to get the wrong person off the bus in schools, and that we’ll always make some hiring mistakes. so we must use ‘early intervention’, in other words move them on at the first opportunity) ) is be much tougher about only retaining outstanding teachers at the end of the initial contract. We’ve shifted the emphasis from an implied ’It’s up to the leadership to prove my incompetence’ to ’it’s up to me to prove I’m outstanding’. We use the example of the simple question addressed by Michael and we say, ’this is effectively a rehiring, so it’s up to you to make sure that we want to re-hire you with enthusiasm’.

We’re far behind in this attitude shift, compared to say, Bill Gerritz, who’s been tougher for years, but better late than never.