Obama stands with Israel

The requirements of empire prevail

The Washington Post tells us that:

The Obama administration appears to be standing by its decision to boycott the World Conference Against Racism next week in Geneva, despite efforts to focus and tone down language in a draft conference document viewed as hostile toward Israel.

The preliminary conference document ran 45 pages and called for reparations for slavery, condemned the "validation of Islamophobia," and asserted that Israel's treatment of the Palestinians is grounded in racism.

In response to objections raised by negotiators from the Obama administration, the document has since been dramatically shortened and many of its sharp statements have been removed. Still, the administration seems uninterested in attending, stoking frustration among activist groups who have said that it is ironic that the nation's first black president would choose that course. [link added]

Apparently the United States could not tolerate even an empire-friendly version of this anti-racism document!

White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said that although progress has been made in revising the draft text, concerns remain. "We hope that these remaining concerns will be addressed, so that the United States can reengage the conference negotiations in the hopes of arriving at a conference document that we can support," he said.

Clearly the United States opposes racism without qualification except in those instances where it benefits from racist attitudes and practices. Given this iron commitment, Obama's defense of Israel appears ironic only if the observer ignores America's long-standing commitment to Israel and Obama's sturdy dedication to the American political system. The President is, after all, a product of that system, and it would be imprudent to expect him to undermine a key element of that system, such as thoughtless support for Israel's imperial and genocidal policies.