Obama in Israel: Shouldn’t He Get the Map Right?

Posted on Wednesday, March 20, 2013 by Post Scripts

Posted by Tina

Pictures are meaningful and in terms of diplomacy it’s pretty important to make sure we get the images right. That’s why I find a story out of The Washington Free Beacon today a bit troubling:

The map of the Middle East displayed in an Obama administration video released days before President Barack Obama’s visit to Israel shows the Jewish state dispossessed of substantial parts of its current territory, including its capital.

The map of Israel, displayed repeatedly during the video, shows the Golan Heights, Jerusalem, northern Israel, and areas surrounding what is currently the West Bank as non-Israeli territory. The Golan Heights is shown as part of Syria; Jerusalem is shown as part of the West Bank; and northern Israel is shown as part of Lebanon.

The itinerary on the White House website also implies that Jerusalem is neither Israel’s capital nor even part of Israel.

The video, posted on You Tube, is also linked in the article. It’s hard to imagine that the President can position himself as an unbiased broker of peace when he has publicly put a stamp of approval on a map that bears no resemblance to current borders.

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3 Responses to Obama in Israel: Shouldn’t He Get the Map Right?

  1. Tina says:
    Wednesday, March 20, 2013 at 10:00 am

    Contradictions of purpose and intent:

    The Washington Examiner:

    A U.S. Department of Justice attorney argued Tuesday against listing Israel as the birthplace of an American boy born in Jerusalem on his passport.

    DOJ attorney Dana Kaersvang told the appeals court panel that because the State Department does not recognize Israel’s sovereignty over Jerusalem, the boy cannot list the country as his birthplace, according to a report from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

    The family’s attorney argued that listing birthplace is simply self-identification and shouldn’t be affected by U.S. policy. The American couple, Ari and Naomi Siegman Zivotofsky, moved to Israel in 2000 and had their son in Jerusalem.

    The Supreme Court sent the case back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia last year, saying the appeals court must rule on the constitutionality of a 2002 law that the State Department “shall” list Israel on a passport if it is requested.

    Upon his arrival in Israel the President had this to say:

    “As I begin this visit, let me say as clearly as I can — the United States of America stands with the State of Israel because it is in our fundamental national security interest to stand with Israel,” Obama told Israeli officials this morning.
    “That’s why the United States was the very first nation to recognize the State of Israel 65 years ago,” he concluded. “That’s why the Star of David and the Stars and Stripes fly together today. And that is why I’m confident in declaring that our alliance is eternal, it is forever – lanetzach.”

    I don’t want to say the President is purposely being deceitful so I will just ask…what are the American people to think of these conflicting messages?

  2. Toby says:
    Thursday, March 21, 2013 at 12:13 am

    As far as Obama is concerned that map is 100% accurate. I think his hate for Israel is about as strong as his hate for the US.

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