Across the pond

Although the television screens are still showing harrowing scenes from Gaza, there is some good news. Obama made it clear on a US television talk show that he will be doing what he can to deal with the problem by talk, not bombs, when he takes over on 20 January. And Hillary Clinton, who was at war with Obama for most of last year, is reported to be planning diplomatic initiatives.

Hillary, thanks to her long spell in New York, has won the hearts of some of the most influential of America’s Jewish population. Whereas Obama, because of the colour of his skin and Muslims in his ancestry, at least has a chance of gaining the confidence of the Palestinians and the Arab nations who support their cause.

Let’s hope that Israel and Hamas will give them a chance.

For me the last few days have been harrowing, because I have ex-students and close friends on both sides of this conflict. Including one of my oldest friends, a psychologist born in Birmingham, part of the West Midlands which is my homeland. He was so committed to the Israeli cause that he went to live there some twenty years ago. Last time he came over he was earning his living as a bereavement counsellor for the Israeli army.

He was very depressed on that visit because he felt his old friends were favouring the other side. My Arab friends feel exactly the same.

It is not easy to decide whether the British media is biased towards one side or the other. Over the last few days the pictures on our television screens have been of the Israeli military demolishing people’s homes with almost no pictures of all those Hamas missiles. This is to do with news values and practicalities. There are plenty of pictures available of the destruction in Gaza, which is a small concentrated area, whereas the Hamas missiles are aimed at a variety of targets, where there is no press corps. And, of course, the Hamas missiles have done not very much damage, so are not ‘news’.

On the other hand, in this latest war, the Israelis have done far better, with effective and articulate spokespeople, both on the television and quoted in the newspapers. This must leave many viewers, listeners and readers in total confusion. Unable to distinguish between the elected government and the Hamas militants who are firing the rockets.

Come 20 January Obama has to deal with the worst recession since the 1930s in the US and the rest of the world. Which is more than a full-time job. But now he has made it clear that he will also make the Middle East a priority. And he cames to power with, reportedly, the highest approval ratings of any President in US history.

Let’s hope he can make a difference.