For some strange reason unknown to me, the State Department has always been the most anti-Israel body in the American government. If only they could learn some common sense from Congress.

the fact is that israel has taken more steps towards peace then the Palestinians across the board. how much can israel do while the arabs sit on their hands and complain. it seems that the most action that arabs have taken in order to express a desire for peace is to formulate demands and concessions that are only pre-pre-pre conditions to perhaps considering peace. enough. if israels forcible evacuation of gaza wasn't a gigantic step towards peace then what was.

flapping that famously blank piece of paper while disembarking that rickety plane on his return from berlin... circa 1939... as long as BO is pushing his lousy visions of the ME this letter is just another one of those made famous by its clashing viewpoints.

decency than to write such a letter that the poodles of AIPAC did. We know these Israel-Firsters, and will soon "reward" them for their "Patriotism"

don't you by now comprehend that YOU ELECTED AN ARABIST AS PRESIDENT? hameed aboughaze, iranian

how this socialist arabist president responds to this kind of letter. what spins will he put in his answer? what reasons will he give for "this is not the right time to pressure arab states". what reason and lie would he come up with to continue his failure and complete misunderstanding of the middle east and the arab israeli palestinian conflict. what reasons would he find to not respond to this letter. let's see this arabist and socialist extricate himself from this "unpleasant" request by all senators. maybe he should invite rashid khalidi and consult with him???? or reverend j. wright? nation of islam? i am sure he will get the answers from them that he approves of. after all, their attitudes, answers and "sound" advise are perfectly in line with this president's thinking and mental convictions. as an iranian that loves freedom and modernity, culture and prosperity and democracy, i think this president will single handedly allow iran to get the bomb. he's doing everything possible to stall and let iran proceed. in him lurks an antipathy for america and capitalism. after all, didn't he refuse to wear the american little metal flag on his suit lapel? didn't he refuse to sing the american national anthem or put his hand on his chest/heart during it? we all saw this on youtube and it shocked us in iran. having a huge che guevara poster hanging in his chicago campaign office and befriending 60's anarchists and radicals as buddies doesn't bode well for this particular individual to lead this country in the right direction. hameed aboughaze, iranian

Perhaps I can explain your quite legitimate assessment of the State Department. Their hostility toward Israel stems in large part from the fact that there are 22 Arab countries to which American diplomats (many of whom are ardent Arabists) are posted. To some extent, it's pretty simply a case of knowing on which side your bread is buttered. Not only that, but the State Department has had a rather nasty history of anti-Semitism that pre-dates the founding of Israel and stemmed from blatant racism on the part of some white Anglo-Saxon Protestants who virtually ran this country...whether it was the banks or Wall Street or the government. Also, unlike Congress which is answerable to the voters, unfortunately, the State Department has no such constraints.

this will go over with obama like a lead balloon araBS only take, not give.

CHAMBERLAIN would congradulate the two state solution folks just ask the leaders of the world how well it worked for chamberlain when you bargin with an enemy that has no intention of living up to the agreement...

It's obvious that these members of Congress view the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine more favorably than they view the interest of the American people that they represent. The signatories of this letter should be caught immediately and put on trial for treason.

the leopard to shed its spots... obama is an arab in disguise, with a very anti- zionist indoctrination. in fact his entire make p is anti israel, & anti- u.s values... j.carter is happy- he is no longer the worst president in us history.. nobama is!

This is why nobody pays attention to Sweden.

They will never be talked into living in peace with a state that makes them look weak and impotent by her sheer existence. Westerners don't understand Arab pride. Pride and Islamic imperialism is all what it's about -- both completely overlooked by arrogant Western and Israeli politicians, who think that the whole world thinks like them or can be molded into thinking like them. Pity the fool!

Seems many americans, including those who voted for him are already starting to see what the rest of us knew from the start. And that is the simple fact that Obama is a charlatan, with no good intentions.

As NYC Girl mentioned, it's ingrained antisemitism which was there before oil interests. There is a strain of that in the US which probably goes back to the European Catholics and even the Anglicans (in the US Episcopalians) on religious and social grounds. It is not logical; simply canards and xenophobia. It's a founders' club mentality which has extended to a number of "minority" groups including women. The entrenched bureaucrats of State are very hard to eliminate. I don't think they really like Arabs either but they can feel very superior to them.

lets see how well they do in the next elections.

Phase one of the Roadmap calls for stop to settlements and removing illegal outpost. The Palestines have done their part although they were forced to for the most part. Phase two then calls for the Arabs to start stepping up. Most the world believes the settlements are more important to Israel than peace, the only way to show them wrong is the building stops.

So why did they vote for Obama ? Very dumb and too late as usual.

It's about time the Arab world established normal relations with Israel. They shouldn't have to be pressured. Time to isolate and marginalize those who intentionally sustain this conflict for profit and power. It's a matter of survival for the entire ME.

I suppose these senators are just as blind to the truth as those who elected them. On the other hand, they may have been selected, not elected and thus can only recite prepared statements by their paymasters.

Oh right , Natanyaho has taken some steps. One step forward and two steps back.

violence, Palestinian political reform, and elections. None of these actually happened - Palestinian armed militias still exist in a semi-official form even under Fatah's wing, Hamas rules the Gaza strip as a small autonomous Islamic Republic, and the only elections so far have been internal Fatah ones. And we still get cases of violent attacks every few weeks - they haven't stopped due to increased Palestinian efforts in the West Bank as much as due to all those evil Israeli checkpoints and walls everyone keeps talking about. So far, I don't really see why you say the Palestinians did their part.

This article just proves that the US Senate and Congress is what has been known for years as Israeli occupied territory. Expansion of settlements eviction of Palestinians just proves Israels insincererity as far as peace with the Palestinians and Arabs is concerned.

I told you sooooooooooo, and it will grow with time if he won't give the people who suported him what they want let see how smart he is... if he will cave in to his muslims brother or to his country men the Americans.

anti-christ. his mission is to destroy the world.

Whatever is posted on talkback #25 can be regarded as more factual then the nonsense you posted in #28. It can be proven by facts on the ground that settlements are expanding and the recent eviction of Palestinians reported widely in the media is FACTUAL enough.