Daybreak: Obama Agonistes
Plus Park51 opens, and more in the news
September 22, 2011
Presidents Sarkozy and Obama at the Waldorf last night.(Aaron Showalter-Pool/Getty Images)
• Even before his speech yesterday, President Obama’s diplomatic initiatives to head off a Palestinian resolution had likely failed. Now, boxed in partly by domestic politics, he watches as Europe—particularly France—steps in to play an unusually large role in the region. [NYT]
• This is the moment that will define Mahmoud Abbas’ legacy. [NYT]
• An exhibit of photgraphs of children from around the world opened at Park51, otherwise known as the Ground Zero mosque—which is to say, it opened—to little fanfare or protest. [Forward]
• The TV and radio host Shelly Yacimovich won the Labor Partly leadership. [AP/WP]
• Lars von Trier clarified that he is not sorry for his remark at Cannes identifying with Hitler, only for not making it clear he was joking. [NYT ArtsBeat]
• Judging by the troop buildup, Syrian protesters are due for a new crackdown. [DPA/Haaretz]
Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.
