It's all the rage in the European and Israeli media – an overheard private conversation between French President Nicholas Sarkozy and our President Obama wherein Sarkozy told Obama that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu was a liar and Obama lamented that at least Sarkozy didn't have to deal with Netanyahu every day like Obama did. Sarkozy and Obama may have thought their private conversation was beyond snooping ears as they attended the G20 Summit in France last week, but in these days of technological wizardry, that's not always the case. At least one microphone in the room was still turned on and picked up the exchange. Oops!
As the story of Obama and Sarkozy's exchange goes viral, especially among this country's Obama-hating Republican crowd, who will no doubt rejoice in our President's embarrassing moment, I can't help but reflect on the irony of the conversation and the situation the two leaders were discussing. You see, the two leaders were discussing the recent United Nations vote on the Palestinian request for full membership status in UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Israel and the United States voted against the Palestinian request for admission, but France voted yes, and the Palestinians were ultimately successful in their bid.
France has a long history of defending the concept of liberty for all people, and although we here in the United States like to claim we're just as zealous in defending the concept, the truth is we're not – at least not where the Palestinians are concerned. When it comes to the subject of Palestine, our Nation's chief concern is to do the bidding of Israel and its pro-Israel lobby here in the U.S., not to promote the goal of Palestinian freedom. We Americans should be ashamed of ourselves. That's the real story here, not the idle chatter of two politicians having what they thought was a private moment.
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