“Obama come” has become a popular Facebook slogan ahead of the American
president’s visit to Israel, with left-wingers inviting him to speak at Tel
Aviv’s Rabin Square and right-wingers urging him to talk to them in the West Bank
region of Samaria.
“Like this page and join us in our goal to persuade
[US President Barack] Obama to speak to hundreds of thousands of Israelis at
Rabin Square,” states one of the commentaries on the page “Obama Come to the
Square,” which Peace Now opened last week.
Another entry makes use of
Obama’s campaign slogan from the 2008 election, placing the words “Yes We Can
Bring Obama to Speak” on top of a photograph of a crowd of thousands.
As
of press time on Tuesday, 10,873 people had pressed “Like” on the page, the top
photograph of which shows Obama and the words, “Speech for Peace, 10,000 and
counting.”
“We hope this number will rise. It is going up very fast,”
said Peace Now executive director Yariv Oppenheimer.
“We wanted to show
Obama how many Israelis want to see him make a speech for peace,” he continued.
“We hope that this visit will not just be about a conversation between leaders,
but that there will also be direct dialogue between the president and the
Israeli public.”
It would be best to hold such a speech in Rabin Square,
“because it is the most political place in Israel,” he said.
“We all
remember the peace rally that was held there that ended so tragically with the
assassination of [former prime minister Yitzhak] Rabin,” he added.
Tel
Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai posted on his Facebook page that he supported the
initiative.
In addition to the Facebook page, Peace Now has begun
planning for a major peace rally during Obama’s visit, but has yet to decide on
a location.
It’s not just left-wing activists who are reaching out to the
president through the social network, though.
On Sunday, the Samaria
Citizens’ Committee opened its own Facebook page, “Obama Come to the Shomron.”
Its top photograph has the words “Speech for life” and shows the Israeli flag
draped over a girl’s back as if it were a set of wings.
As of press time,
it had 937 “Like”s.
Committee chairman Benny Katzover said that before
Obama spoke of withdrawals and another construction freeze, he should visit
Judea and Samaria to see for himself that it was the heart of a very small
country.
“From here, he can see its width and breath,” he
said.
Samaria is the place to which biblical forefather Abraham first
came, and the place to which his grandson Jacob returned, he added, noting that
it was also on Mount Gerizim in Samaria, where Joshua built an altar for peace
offerings when the ancient Israelites returned to the land.
Now the
United States wants to take this biblical Jewish heartland and turn it into a
terrorist state, contended Katzover, who opposes the creation of a Palestinian
state.
“Why does [the US] want another terrorist base in this region?” he
asked.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not the only issue that has
spawned “Obama come” Facebook pages. There is one inviting him to visit the city
of Bnei Brak, one asking that he come to the Knesset, another asking him to a
Purim party, and one inviting him over to listen to records.