Obama Plans Mideast Diplomatic Offensive

Ignore the cynics, Obama urges

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama gave his second speech to the UN General Assembly today, and spent most of his time calling for support for the US’ latest stab at peace in the Middle East. “Peace must be made by Israelis and Palestinians, but each of us has a responsibility to do our part as well,” Obama said, according to Politico . “Now I recognize many are pessimistic about this process,” he allowed. “But consider the alternative.” More»

Secret contact under consideration: sources

(NEWSER) - President-elect Barack Obama is prepared to break with Bush administration policy and open lines of communication with Hamas, sources close to the transition team tell the Guardian. Advisors believe that ostracizing Hamas isn't working and support a move by Obama to quietly contact Hamas, perhaps through intelligence agencies—the same way earlier administrations engaged the PLO without Israel's knowledge, according to the sources. More»

Arabs and Muslims disappointed after 'promise of change'

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama's studied silence on the Gaza attacks—there’s only one president at a time, and so on—isn’t playing well in the Middle East, writes Simon Tisdall in the Guardian. “Foreign wars don't wait for Washington inaugurations,” Tisdall notes. Many Arabs and Muslims “cannot understand why, given his promise of change, he has not spoken out.” More»

Back Mideast peace deal based on 1967 borders

(NEWSER) - President Obama gave a wide-ranging speech on the Middle East today, speaking out forcefully in support of Arab protesters everywhere—even in US allies like Yemen and Bahrain. “After decades of accepting the world as it is in the region we have a chance to pursue the world as it should be,” Obama said, advocating “universal rights” for the people of the region, including freedom of speech and religion, and equality for women and men. More»

Josh Gerstein lays out the hot-button points

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama will give a major speech on the Mideast at 11:40am ET today, in which he'll share his vision of the role America should play in a region that's been battling unrest for four months now. Josh Gerstein provides a primer on Politico . Your ears should perk up when Obama broaches these five topics:

• Syria: How far will he go, asks Gerstein? We just slapped sanctions on Bashar al-Assad, but some lawmakers want Obama to flat-out call for Assad to go, as he did with Hosni Mubarak in Egypt (which worked) and Moammar Gadhafi (which hasn't). Gerstein thinks it's unlikely he'll go that far, though. "The president may not want to add to the list of dictators thumbing their noses at the US."