he phone rings, you pick it up and a male voice – obviously not an American – greets you.

“Hello! How are you? I hope you are fine!”

You pause, ready to hang up, but hesitate. Is this a crank, or could it possibly be someone from your distant past? You venture a cautious, “Who is this?”

“Give me two minutes. I am here, living in the Gaza Strip in Palestine. As you know, we live here in a miserable situation and we need peace, necessarily. We are a group making the U.S. people to elect Senator Obama. We think he is a man of peace, so please kindly support us by electing Senator Obama.”

What? Calling from Gaza? Isn’t that in Israel somewhere? Why would they be calling you, campaigning for Obama?

“Who are you with? Why are you calling me?”

“I am not with an organization. I live here in the Gaza Strip in miserable situation. You will elect Senator Obama, or what?”

Phoning It In
No, it’s not a joke. Unfortunately, it’s not even Borat, although it sounds remarkably like one of comedian Sacha Baron Cohen’s better gags. You really are on the receiving end of a campaign call from Gaza, the terrorist-controlled strip of land Israel unwisely turned over to the Arabs two years ago in search of exactly what this caller says he wants: peace.

The phone conversation quoted is a transcript of an actual telephone call – one of hundreds of thousands – placed to allegedly random telephone numbers in the U.S. from the ultimate in offshore campaign headquarters, Gaza.

According to Media Line, an independent Middle Eastern news service, nine months ago, 24 young “Palestinians” established a bare-bones “Gazans for Obama” call center using cheap voice-over-the-Internet technology.

Night after night, they place as many phone calls to the U.S. as they can squeeze in during the hours in which a U.S. resident might be expected to answer the phone. Their goal is just what they say: to elect Barack Hussein Obama as president of the United States. Other than the cost of standard computers with Internet connections and Skype, the calls are free. Because they aren’t U.S. citizens – nor apparently have any of them ever visited the U.S. – they aren’t bound by any U.S. election laws.

Did they call you? One of the phone bank callers, Ibrahim Abu Jayyeb, admits that 19 out of 20 calls result in a hang-up, the usual American (or Israeli) response to such intrusions. Still, if even one out of 20 listens to the message, the contacts add up.

But Why?
Why are they so supportive of Sen. Obama? Abu Jayyeb told Media Line, “He’s the kind of person who, when he says ‘I will change America,’ will do what he says… I believe that Barack Obama will achieve peace in the area, in the Middle East and Palestine, between us, the Palestinian people, and the Jewish people.”

It is hard to admit this, but as a matter of integrity, I have to say it: I’m at the point that when I hear the word “peace,” I cringe.

Obviously, Israelis – just like good Americans – want “peace,” real peace, which is to say to live in harmony with the 22 Arab countries that surround Israel. However, far too many peaceniks speak of “peace” when what they really envision is much more akin to what Adolph Hitler wanted: the absence of opposition to his rule.

Think of it: the Gazans for Obama live in an area controlled by Hamas, a deadly terror organization that shares resources with Hezbollah, al Qaida and the henchmen of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Day by day, Ahmadinejad repeats his threat of nuclear destruction of Israel. People fret, but no one is making a move to stop him. On the contrary, the United Nations just feted him, offered him a worldwide platform from which to detail his loathsome plans, granting him all the respect any head of state would receive. His calls for the literal destruction of Israel were largely ignored – or pooh-poohed as “nonsense” – which is how Israel’s Prime Minister-elect Tzipi Livni shrugged it off.

The Call is Yours
After Sept. 11, Americans know just as well as we do: This is not empty talk. These terrorists carry out their plans every chance they get, whether it is in Israel, Pakistan, London or the U.S.

And now these young Gazans are campaigning for Obama because he is, they say, a man of peace.

What’s my problem with that? I’m afraid they’re right. I, too, think Barack Obama is a man of “peace”—a man who will insist on one-sided settlements. A man who will endanger Israel with endless demands for “goodwill gestures,” but expect nothing from Arabs—a man who will send his minions here – just as President Bush did, to be honest – trying to force Israel into territorial concessions and leaving Israel with a fragmented country that’s militarily indefensible.

What these young Gazans want is exactly what I fear: That Barack Obama will indeed ultimately bring “peace” to the Middle East, which is to say, the absence of opposition to Muslim dictates—the absence of Israel.

Don’t get me wrong. I know that’s not Obama’s intent. But with his know-it-all attitude in spite of an absolute lack of any experience, coupled with his willingness to meet, without preconditions, terrorists – wily characters who will outmaneuver him seven times a week and twice on Sunday – that will be the result.

The Gazans want peace? All things considered, the world would be a better place if they would start campaigning for it in their own country first.