Shame on President Obama

Today, at the UN, world leaders are discussing the bid of the Palestinians to be considered sovereign over their own land. Sadly, my country, the supposed beacon of freedom and democracy in the world is standing in opposition of freedom and democracy in the Middle East. The official cop-out line is that they support a Palestinian state, but only if it's negotiated with the Israeli's first. He said that "Peace will not come through statements and resolutions at the UN". My question then, Mr. Obama, why do we have the UN? Why has your administration put so much emphasis on UN resolutions in the past, if in the end it's inconsequential?

Here's how I see it, as an informed and concerned citizen of the world: The Palestinian people have a right, the same right as the Israeli's or even Americans, or any other population on the planet to have a say in their own state and affairs. Just because one group or point of view feels threatened by this sovereignty it does not make the Palestinians or any other group less than human or less deserving of rights.

If the current standard put forth by the Obama administration, and the Israeli government were in place in the 18th century, the United States would never have come to exist. The Palestinians, in fact, are going about their own statehood in a more peaceful manner than our nation's founding fathers did. Compared to the standards of today, Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Franklin and others would be on a terrorist watchlist and would be actively pursued by the military and covert organizations. Is this what we want to be? Is this to be the standard moving forward into the rest of the 21st century? Or will we as Americans stand up to this nonsense and demand that people across the globe have the rights and sovereignty that they're willing to fight for?

I know that my opinion on this little blog will not change the tragedy of what's happening in the Middle East, but my hope is that at least my words and opinions will be seen and help to influence more dialogue among us. I'm doing my part, will you do yours?

Sean M Henry