More from Gideon Levy:

Then the administration fell into the trap set by Israel and is showing no signs of recovery. A settlement freeze, something that should have been understood by a prime minister who speaks with such bluster about two states - a peripheral matter that Israel committed to in the road map - has suddenly turned into a central issue. Special envoy George Mitchell is wasting his time and prestige with petty haggling...

This i think is the bottom line:

An America that will not pressure Israel is an America that will not bring peace. True, one cannot expect the U.S. president to want to make peace more than the Palestinians and Israelis, but he is the world's responsible adult, its great hope. Those of us who are here, Mr. President, are sinking in the wretched mud, in "injury time." -- Gideon Levy

Just recently, two large extended families were evicted from their homes in Jerusalem. Homes they have lived in for 50 years.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton:

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday criticized Israel for the eviction two Palestinian families from an Arab neighborhood in east Jerusalem, calling the move "deeply regrettable". "The eviction of families and demolition of homes in east Jerusalem is not in keeping with Israeli obligations and I urge the government of Israel and municipal officials to refrain from such provocative actions," Clinton said.

Regrettable. 50 more Palestinians on the streets and evicted from their homes. This, Mr. Obama, is much more than regrettable.

Needless to say, this is not progress. I see a disturbing trend. I see a President unable to deliver. Held back by powerful lobbies here at home, working through Congress to push back against even the most modest of demands.

It's not just folks like me that see AIPAC and its cohorts putting pressure on Congress and the President to block US policy on settlements, it is so open and plain that even someone so usually loathsome in his prowar views as Thomas Friedman can see it.

For the last 40 years, a succession of Israeli governments has misled, manipulated or persuaded naïve U.S. presidents that since Israel was negotiating to give up significant territory, there was no need to fight over "insignificant" settlements on some territory. Behind this charade, Israeli settlers bit off more and more of the West Bank, creating a huge moral, security and economic burden for Israel and its friends... For years, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and the pro-Israel lobby, rather than urging Israel to halt this corrosive process, used their influence to mindlessly protect Israel from U.S. pressure on this issue and to dissuade American officials and diplomats from speaking out against settlements. Everyone in Washington knows this, and a lot of people — people who care about Israel — are sick of it...

And here, folks, is part of the fruit of their efforts:

A senior member of US President Barack Obama's party broke ranks on Thursday, blaming Palestinians for a lack of peace negotiations and casting doubt on calls for a settlement freeze.

"I don't think settlements are nearly the big issue that confronts the Palestinians and the Israelis in reaching an agreement," said Steny Hoyer (D-MD), the American House majority leader, at a West Jerusalem news conference. "I think the largest thing impeding them at this point in time is the unwillingness of [Palestinian President Mahmoud] Abbas to sit down now," added Hoyer, who was leading a 29-member delegation to Israel and the West Bank sponsored by an affiliate of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the largest pro-Israel lobbyist group in Washington, DC. From here.

Here is what actual acting for peace is up against. Politicians like Hoyer, a dedicated servant of various lobbies in Congress, saying it isn't important what happens on the ground in the West Bank, in Gaza, and elsewhere... what is important for Hoyer and gang is that there be:



Photo-ops.

Abbas chatting with Netenyahu. With nice refreshments. Press Releases. Limos to take the diplomats here and there. Security. Air Conditioning. No distractions, and certainly no thinking about what is happening outside.

In the meantime, Israel is permitted to evict families, threaten others with home demolitions, arrest and imprison nonviolent Israeli Jewish protesters, Palestinian protesters.... this is not a concern to Hoyer and his ilk.

Does anyone else think that the attention should be on what is happening in people's lives, the actual continued and expanding illegal settlements and the suffering of people outside is what should catch the attention of President Obama, and not this "peace processing" that without real changes is nothing more real than a never-ending Broadway extravaganza. Think maybe Hoyer has this backwards? Like really backwards. Shouldn't we be putting actual changes in policy as first priority?



Yes, it's only 7 months on... a short time. So maybe Levy has it wrong, maybe there is still hope for acting for peace, beyond talking for peace, in the Middle East coming from the Obama administration. But 7 months is long enough to spot a trend.

We need to push Obama to not only stick to the very modest demands he has made of Israel, but also to make Israel refusal to follow past agreements have some consequences, something more dramatic than an official "regrettable". Because even if they really, really, mean it, words alone just doesn't cut it.

It's time to end unconditional aid to Israel. Obama has not said that, we need to say it for him. Those who want a just peace are being attacked by those who want to stall any real progress. When we see the destruction of human rights in the West Bank and Gaza, people of conscience must speak out, and call for policies that show our government does not support it, will not subsidize it, will no longer let it go on in our name.

End US aid for Occupation, Mr. Obama.