Please ask President Obama to:

Dis-invite PM Netanyahu from tomorrow's visit Bibi just dis-invited himself.

Condemn the piracy in no uncertain terms, and demand the immediate release of the illegally captured boats, allowing them to continue to Gaza unimpeded.

Demand that Israel treat the wounded in civilian hospitals, notify their families and embassies directly and allow the latters' access to them and pay for families to arrive to Israel to visit hospitals and for their stay.

Demand that Israel Immediately lift the siege of Gaza.

Similarly, Immediately open the West Bank to free movement of people and goods to and from Jordan.

I think that will do for a start. If you have anything to add, please write in the comments.

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I am afraid that on issue after issue, President Obama has shown an unwillingness to fight for what is right, until at least one moment too late. It happened with healthcare and the public option, it happened with offshore drilling, and it is has happened intermittently with Israel-Palestine as well. This tragedy should have never happened. Obama himself is on record asking for the siege to be removed; he just never cared to make this request anything more than empty words.

But I still trust that Obama is a smart man who knows what's right. Obama is my leader too; we hardly have anyone else to turn to. When he puts his mind to something, he can get a lot accomplished.

Tonight is the night to demand from him to finally do that with the poor, bleeding Holy Land.

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8:30 AM PDT UPDATE: I went to sleep having no idea this diary would make it to the rec list and out while I'm away. As a result it got a lot of attention from good bloggers who are, however, not very familiar with I-P.

I was blamed by someone who hijacked the TJ, of taking "cheap shots" at Obama. There was no "cheap shot" at Obama here. This is a serious, reality based policy criticism, and yes, it is directly related to today's massacre.

Two days ago, my diary's subject was the flotilla itself and Israel's response. Whoever read it, got a pretty good (and frighteningly foreboding) analysis of what's going on. Almost no mention of Obama.

This particular short diary written in the middle of the night with shock and outrage over what's happened, is about US policy on Gaza - and yes, this does mean addressing Obama's actions on the matter. Unpleasant as it is.

Progressive Israel-Palestine activists have a 2-year frustration with the President. He was the candidate coming into the race with the best-ever knowledge of the facts and of both sides about this conflict. But immediately after winning the Democratic primaries he chose to capitulate to the political status quo. We were the canaries in the coal mine regarding a risk-avoidance pattern that has since, unfortunately, become Obama's hallmark. I was far less surprised than others here, when Obama chose a path-of-least-resistance on issue after issue, rather than take on some risk and press for the right policies.

That being said, I still trust Obama's ability to learn, and his talents as a leader, should he really set his mind to it. And yes, this means that the risk-avoidance pattern should be changed.

For Israel-Palestine and in particular the Gaza siege, Obama has perhaps more leverage than on any other issue. Israel is a US client state. American pressure applied at the right time and place can achieve immediate results. All Presidents did that, even Colin Powell turned back an Israel incursion of Gaza in March 2001, with a single phone call. Obama can bring about the release of the captive boats with a single phone call, and he can end the entire siege with not much more. In other words, had Obama really wanted, the siege would have ended long ago.

There is also a very important flip side to this. We here can keep pretending (as many commenters do) that Israel is some foreign third-party whose actions have little to do with the US or with the President. But around the world, Israeli power is perceived as a direct extension of American power. The world in general, does hold the US accountable for the crap that Israel does. Even more so, for the crap Israel gets away with. Therefore, there does need to be a greater sense of urgency and self-empowerment in the way the President deals with Israel.

American Jews voted overwhelmingly for Obama, in spite of virulent racist campaign against him from some right-wing Jewish circles and from Israel. There's probably not a single American Jew who hasn't received from family/friends some hate mail against Obama, and yet nearly 80% of us voted for him.

So at face value, he's the first President who literally owes nothing to the vaunted "Israel Lobby". His election finally proved that this network of political thugs has become paper tigers, generals without armies. Not only do the professional lobbies such as AIPAC not represent American Jewry anymore; they have completely, irreversibly lost the younger Jewish generation except for its right-wing zealot fringe. Obama has literally nothing to fear but fear itself.

In short: it's morning, the WH switchboard is on (comment line is not), please call (202)456-1414. State Dept. (202) 647-4000. Ask for the above, and for hope and change on Gaza in particular, on I-P in general.

Link to info about protests around the world.

Thank you.