Arab-Israeli conflict

The American Jewish pro-peace pro-Israel pro-Palestinian organization urges the Nobel Laureate president to use his enhanced prestige to push forward with an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict:
J Street congratulates President Obama on being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The President’s bold international leadership has had a profound impact on global dynamics, reestablishing hope for a [...]

Former GOP Arkansas governor, Fox News host and presumed presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee is in Israel and he tweets:
I’ll be in Israel this week and touring the highly disputed settlements that Obama and Hillary are trying to stop.
“Highly disputed” is one way of putting it. “Illegal” is another, and “contrary to Israeli obligations under the [...]

Speaking of returning the United States to an active role in Arab-Israeli peace processing, here’s a statement just issued by new White House press secretary Robert Gibbs:

Liberal groups see a successful counterterrorism strategy doing more than ending torture, closing Guantanamo Bay, restricting CIA interrogation practices and curbing domestic spying. It must restore America’s moral stature in the world, and one way to do that is help resolve Arab-Israeli conflicts. The new administration seems receptive to the need for change.

As new Palestinian institutions and new leaders emerge, demonstrating real performance on security and reform, I expect Israel to respond and work toward a final-status agreement. With intensive effort by all, this agreement could be reached within three years from now. And I and my country will actively lead toward that goal.
– George [...]

Let me add to DeLong’s post. First, the idea that there is anything at all unseemly about “associating” with Rashid Khalidi is — why mince words — racist.
As Matt Duss points out, Khalidi is a respected professor of Middle Eastern studies. His history of the Palestinian people was on the syllabus of a course I [...]