Playing local politics with Gaza

Is Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa right to publicly express his fervent support for Israel's military campaign against Hamas? Tim Rutten, who defends Villaraigosa in his Jan. 14 Times Op-Ed column, thinks so. But there is one major reason, among many, why Villaraigosa and Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca are wrong to take sides on the latest crisis in the Gaza Strip. Put aside the human rights of Palestinians, even though the U.S. government's hypocrisy on this issue has never been more blatant and clear to the rest of the world. Put aside the reality that the Palestinian issue remains a fulcrum in U.S.-Muslim world relations, as evidenced by the anti-American outrage we're witnessing in places such as Kabul.

By Salam Al-Marayati

January 19, 2009