'Obama can go to hell,' says Arab MK on UNSC vote

Ibrahim Sarsour says Arab world should punish US economy after the US vetoes Security Council resolution condemning settlements.

By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN
ibrahim sarsour 311 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
ibrahim sarsour 311
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
US President Barack Obama betrayed the Palestinians and the Arab world by instructing the American delegation to the United Nations to veto a Security Council resolution condemning Jewish settlements in the West Bank as illegal, United Arab List MK Ibrahim Sarsour wrote in an open letter to Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas Saturday.
In the letter, Sarsour accused Obama of surrendering to Israel, blind bias toward the Jewish state and directing undue pressure and threats against the Palestinian leadership.
RELATED:Arab MKs walk out of hearing they initiated'Bishara bill' passes major hurdle in Knesset
“After the exposure of lies from the US, we must say frankly to Obama: You no longer scare us and you can go to hell,” Sarsour wrote.
“Obama cannot be trusted. We knew his promises were lies. The time has come to spit in the face of the Americans.”
Sarsour condemned former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali as American agents in the Middle East.
He was more forgiving when it came to former US president George W. Bush.
“[The veto] proves for the thousandth time that Obama is worse than his predecessor Bush in his loyalty to Israel, his bias and double standards on the Middle East conflict, and in ignoring the ongoing crimes against the Palestinian people, land and holy places,” Sarsour wrote.
In an interview with The Jerusalem Post Saturday night, Sarsour said that all Israelis should be upset with how Obama has handled the Middle East conflict. He said the UN decision was bad for Israel in the long run, because it would mislead Israelis into thinking that there was not a consensus that the settlements violate international law and are an obstacle to peace.
“We had hope in Obama but his unwavering defense of Israel has left him in an unexplainable coma when it comes to the peace process,” Sarsour said. “He gave into threats from Jews in Congress and stopped seeking true peace, so we have no choice but to tell him that he is no longer wanted in the Middle East and that he can go to hell.
The Arab world should persuade the US to change its Middle East policies by any means necessary, including by use of economic pressure.”
By contrast, even the MKs on the Right that are usually the most critical of the president of the United States praised Obama on Saturday night.
“I welcome his veto and I hope that it will be the start of a new, pro-Israel Obama for the first time since he took office, though I have my doubts,” Likud MK Danny Danon said.