Mort Klein, the president of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), has written an open letter to Penguin Random House, publisher of former President Barack Obama's latest autobiography, A Promised Land. (His first two bios were written before he even became famous.) The ZOA is pointing out several misstatements Obama made regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I am cross-posting that letter here.
Without addressing the claims made by Obama and the counterclaims made by ZOA, let me just say that it should be clear to every American by now as to who supports Israel and who supports the Palestinian narrative. Under Obama, Israel and its president, Benjamin Netanyahu, were treated with open disdain. Obama's support for the Palestinian cause had been revealed as far back as when he was still in Chicago and meeting with Columbia University professor Rashid Khalidi, a fierce opponent of Israel.
As president, there was the famous White House episode when Obama treated Netanyahu like he was a salesman knocking on his door selling magazine subscriptions.
In contrast, Israel had arguably the best presidential friend in its history with Trump in office. In addition, his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, successfully negotiated normalization/diplomatic agreements between Israel and several Arab/Muslim nations.
But now with Biden in office, it's back to the bad old days of anti-Israel appointees and demands that Israel make concessions. In short, the brief 4 years of having an ally as US president is over for Israel.
I might also add that the pressure Trump was putting on universities to crack down on anti-Semitic activity is also apparently finished.
I have not read Obama's book, nor do I intend to. I avoid autobiographies in general because they tend to be self-serving. I don't even intend to read Trump's inevitable presidential autobiography when that comes out. Just look at what the publisher says about Obama's latest book:
"A riveting, deeply personal account of history in the making, from the president who inspired us to believe in the power of democracy.
In the stirring, highly anticipated first volume of his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama tells the story of his improbable odyssey from young man searching for his identity to leader of the free world, describing in strikingly personal detail both his political education and the landmark moments of the first term of his historic presidency—a time of dramatic transformation and turmoil.
Obama takes readers on a compelling journey from his earliest political aspirations to the pivotal Iowa caucus victory that demonstrated the power of grassroots activism to the watershed night of November 4, 2008, when he was elected 44th president of the United States, becoming the first African American to hold the nation’s highest office.
Reflecting on the presidency, he offers a unique and thoughtful exploration of both the awesome reach and the limits of presidential power, as well as singular insights into the dynamics of U.S. partisan politics and international diplomacy. Obama brings readers inside the Oval Office and the White House Situation Room, and to Moscow, Cairo, Beijing, and points beyond. We are privy to his thoughts as he assembles his cabinet, wrestles with a global financial crisis, takes the measure of Vladimir Putin, overcomes seemingly insurmountable odds to secure passage of the Affordable Care Act, clashes with generals about U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, tackles Wall Street reform, responds to the devastating Deepwater Horizon blowout, and authorizes Operation Neptune’s Spear, which leads to the death of Osama bin Laden.
A Promised Land is extraordinarily intimate and introspective—the story of one man’s bet with history, the faith of a community organizer tested on the world stage. Obama is candid about the balancing act of running for office as a Black American, bearing the expectations of a generation buoyed by messages of “hope and change,” and meeting the moral challenges of high-stakes decision-making. He is frank about the forces that opposed him at home and abroad, open about how living in the White House affected his wife and daughters, and unafraid to reveal self-doubt and disappointment. Yet he never wavers from his belief that inside the great, ongoing American experiment, progress is always possible.
This beautifully written and powerful book captures Barack Obama’s conviction that democracy is not a gift from on high but something founded on empathy and common understanding and built together, day by day."
The Great Man, The Great President.
Unfortunately, one cannot expect a professional and impartial biography of any president until long after they are dead. The person who will someday write a quality biography of Obama or Trump likely is not even born yet. All we expect in the meantime is either hagiography or a hit job.
So the next presidential biography I read will probably be someone like say, Herbert Hoover.
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