A Palestinian child named Nisreeen hit by an Israeli rubber bullet, Occupied West Bank, 2006; An Israeli army dog attacks a woman named Yusra, March 2007; Palestinian youth with missing leg waiting for ambulance after an Israeli (counter)attack on Gaza, April 2008.

Israel has operated a military occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem since the Six Day War of 1967. That same year, the United Nations passed Security Council Resolution 242 which called for the “withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict.” Israel and its sponsor the United States have ignored the resolution, resulting in the longest military occupation in modern history.

The decades long occupation has been brutal, and fuels violence on the part of a desperate people who lack basic rights and necessities. Their situation is further exasperated by Israel’s “security walls” – also illegal according to international law – which constitute the great open air prisons within which the stateless Palestinians now live.

(For a extended look at the absurdly biased U.S. news coverage of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, check out the 2004 documentary Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land, which you can watch online in its entirety. It is 80 minutes long, and covers such topics as the colonization of the occupied territories through Jewish settlements and the marginalization of anti-occupation voices.)

In 2005, Israel initiated a partial withdrawal from Gaza and certain parts of the Northern West Bank, even going so far as to forcibly remove Jewish settlers.

In 2006, however, after Hamas won a majority of seats in the Palestinian authority, Israel and the U.S. refused to recognize the results of what was considered to be a fair election by international observers. 41 of the 43 victorious candidates are now in Israeli prisons, and the refusal to recognize a joint Fatah-Hamas government has led to internal strife, resulting in a Gaza in the hands of Hamas. Former President Jimmy Carter has more on the Human Rights Crime in Gaza.

Obama, his new double flag pin, and a Palestinian boy sitting amongst the rubble of homes demolished by Israel, the region’s only “democracy”, whose “quest for peace” and “commitment to the rule of law” “sets an example for all when it seeks a more perfect future”.

It is within this context, and the very next day after he secured the Democrat Party’s nomination for presidential candidate, that Barack Obama joined Republican nominee John McCain and others to bow before the powerful “pro-Israel” lobby, AIPAC. You can watch Obama’s entire speech on his youtube page, but here are some of the lowlights:

1. “Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided.”

Here is one very disappointed Israeli peace activist’s reaction to Obama’s proclamation:

2.”As President, I will implement a Memorandum of Understanding that provides $30 billion in assistance to Israel over the next decade – investments to Israel’s security that will not be tied to any other nation.”

Because, you know, “Israel’s security” means “ensuring Israel’s qualitative military advantage.”

Stephen Zunes, Chair of Middle Eastern Studies at University of San Francisco has this to say about Obama’s right turn:

3. “We must isolate Hamas unless and until they renounce terrorism, recognize Israel’s right to exist, and abide by past agreements. There is no room at the negotiating table for terrorist organizations.”

Zunes again:

Links to other interesting essays regarding Obama:

• Journalist Alexander Cockburn articulates the links between Obama and the weapons manufacturer General Dynamics.
• Paul Craig Roberts, former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan Administration, argues that despite Obama’s questionable policies on Israel and the economy, his election to the Presidency would still be the only way to block the United States final fall into tyranny.

And, as usual, I like to highlight a creative aesthetic reaction to the Problems the World has Got. Here are a few images of U.K. artist Banksy‘s work on the separation wall: