By KUNA,
By Heather Yamour WASHINGTON : US President Barack Obama should put pressure on Israel to lift the current blockade on Gaza and halt attacks on Palestinians, while making a more dramatic effort to ease the humanitarian crisis, said President of the Arab American Institute Dr. James Zogby.
Zogby told KUNA during a press conference at the Foreign Press Center late Wednesday that the US needs to dispatch humanitarian aid, immediately, to Gaza and do “more dramatic” things, such as dispatching US naval hospital ships and airlifting critical supplies urgently needed to ease the situation there.
Such efforts, Zogby said would be “incredibly good for the US image and important to Gaza citizens”.
While the administration will likely take more “concrete” action towards Israel after the Israeli elections later this month, Zogby suggested that Obama make a firm public remark insisting on lift of Gaza blockade.
“President Obama has a nuanced understanding of the Middle East. He also has an understanding of the conflicts and the limitations and has a desire to bring people together and reconcile differences,” He said.
Zogby pointed out Obama’s efforts to improve dialogue between the US and Muslim World by addressing Muslims directly in his inauguration address, talking with Arab leaders on his first day in office, and giving his first White House interview to Dubai-based Al-Arabiya news channel.
He noted that Obama’s special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell was one of the “best Middle East negotiators”.
“The current crisis in Gaza has politically and physically divided the Palestinian community and has emboldened the settler movement on the West Bank, ” noted Zogby.
“Real damage has been done. There is tremendous overgrowth of hatred, of division, of all the stuff off of which that extremism grows,” Zogby added. “It will not be an easy task to unwind that anytime soon. I am very hopeful that Mitchell and Obama are the best people to have at this time.”(end) hy.wsa KUNA 050902 Feb 09NNNN