Was Obama Being an Israel Appeaser?

Was Obama's trip to Israel an expression of his being an Israeli appeaser? Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera's Senior Political Analyst, provides a short debate on this topic.

The debate starts: Barack Obama's visits to the Israeli town of Sderot, which was struck by Palestinian rocket attacks, and the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial are smart moves. They underline that he stands, beyond any doubt, in solidarity with Israel against "terrorism".

Reply: You assume that it is smart to exploit the suffering and death of millions of Jews in the Holocaust for Israeli and/or American political goals.

But how does his visit to Sderot square with any solidarity with the decades-long dispossessed, oppressed and occupied Palestinians?

And, later, another exchange: Obama needs Jewish support within the Democratic Party and there is no way he will get it by angering pro-Israeli segments or alienating those influential Jews who belonged to Hillary Clinton's camp.

Reply: That could have been done and still be minimally fair or objective from a guy who is known to have befriended the likes of the late Palestinian-American intellectual Edward Said.

Telling the Israeli lobby Aipac that Jerusalem will remain the undivided capital of Israel (even when retracted half-heartedly) is going beyond the call of the campaign duty. The same goes for visiting Sderot.