Writing from Washington D.C. It pains me to disappoint my readers, but Israel really is the center of the world. The United States has economic problems, the Euro bloc might turn into a myth because of Greece and even leaders in the Arab world are dealing with basic survival due to the "Arab Spring." The Palestinian move at the United Nations only adds to the atmosphere of uncertainty prevailing on earth. How funny is it that precisely from Washington D.C., still the capital of the most important country in the world, our situation does not appear incurable. Just the opposite. It's true that the world is busy with the Palestinian move, but that is not what the Palestinians are seeking. In the meantime, they have just made Gabon, a tiny west African nation that may hold the deciding U.N. vote, famous. I watched President Barack Obama's speech in a public venue in Washington. Precisely in light of his "Zionist" speech, I would have hoped that at least one other person would have also looked up and watched the screen. But that was the last thing that interested anyone where I was that late morning. Even now, one does not see U.S. newspapers filled with reports of Obama's speech. There were those who tried to understand how Obama, who used his very first phone call from the Oval Office to call Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, could now, as Abbas takes the most important step of his career, trip him up. Some explained that it is because of the impending U.S. presidential election and others, the most senior officials, explained that Obama has simply learned the material. The dueling speeches between Abbas and Netanyahu on Friday at the U.N. will probably incite many different reactions. Abbas will be complimented and Netanyahu, even with a spectacular speech, will be criticized. The Palestinians will continue to make diplomatic and media strides that don't translate into a state. Israel will be defined as isolated, though in any case with some achievements, because the world game centers on interest. Until when will we all be satisfied with so little? From the perspective of the Palestinians, this is definitely a question that needs to be asked. There are those who say the Palestinians have no choice but to implement unilateral steps, even if they are hopeless. That's how it is, they explain, when Israel has a government spewing empty words. A mass of hypocrisy would be necessary in order to ignore the past. Forty-eight hours after Obama's speech and we may still wonder if the expected American veto expresses a loss or preservation of the U.S. at Israel's side. You need to be here in the U.S. to understand how little the Palestinian move in the U.N. disturbs the average Joe in the street. Until the actual announcement of a Palestinian state, in any average geography game, every second child will answer "Gabon" when they get to the letter "G." Abbas has at least achieved that much.
