Posted By James Besser
Blogger Steve Clemons had an interesting take on this weekend’s national leadership conference of the Arab American Institute in Dearborn, Michigan.
Clemons noted that of the huge pack of Democratic and Republican presidential contenders, only Republican Ron Paul and Democrats Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich and Bill Richardson “took the time to be at this important assembly of Arab-Americans.”
More interesting was the videotaped message to the group by Sen. Hillary Clinton, the current Democratic frontrunner who has worked hard to take on hard-line pro-Israel positions.
Clinton, Clemons reported, seemed “genuinely interested in the importance of Arab Americans.
But the New York senator “just did not say ‘Palestine’ or ‘Palestinian state’ in her taped message.”
While Clinton officially supports a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, she appears unwilling to utter the “P” word, and in doing so is joining the stampede away from Bush administration policy that has made Palestinian statehood a centerpiece.
Which isn’t to say that if elected, most of these candidates are likely to stand American policy on its ear.
“A two-state solution means Palestinian statehood,” said a longtime pro-Israel lobbyist in Washington. “It may be bad politics to talk about it during a campaign, but it’s hard to imagine the next president will stray very far from the course this administration has charted.”