Judaism Without Borders

Obama addressed a question about Middle East peace at a town hall in Tampa, Florida, today (emphases mine). Transcript courtesy of the Jewish liaison from the office of the Vice President, whom I met in DC and who always sends me Presidential quotations she thinks I want to hear.

In a marked difference from the Bush years, I appreciate the President highlighting the intransigence of the Israeli government presently. He was delicate and fair to both sides, but I’m happy to see the President not place the blame entirely on the Palestinians.

However, it irks me to see the reiteration of “As a first step, the Palestinians have to unequivocally renounce violence and recognize Israel.” The PLO already has renounced violence and recognized Israel, during the Olso Accords, in every treaty to date, and most recently at the 2009 Fatah party convention; it is Hamas that Obama rightly notes has done neither. It is something that is said for ignorant Jews who think we still live in 2001. And you’ll notice no reciprocal applause after Obama says Israel must “acknowledge legitimate grievances and interests of the Palestinians.”

This is why I’m a local leader in J Street NYC — which launches next Thursday, Feb 4th at the Prince George Ballroom (15 West 27th Street, NYC) and where we’ll plug people immediately into projects that advance grassroots pro-peace power in New York. RSVP here!

AUDIENCE MEMBER:    My question is, last night in your State of the Union address you spoke of America’s support for human rights.  Then why have we not condemned Israel and Egypt’s human rights violations against the occupied Palestinian people and yet we continue to support financially with billions of dollars coming from our tax dollars?
 
AUDIENCE:  Booo!

THE PRESIDENT:  Okay, now, everybody has got to be courteous, everybody is answering the question.

Let me just talk about the Middle East generally.  Look — all right, everybody, come on, come on, hold on.  Hold on one second, I’ve got to answer my question first, sir.  Okay.  I know you got — what, you got some beads on — are those New Orleans beads?  Okay.

Look, look, look, the Middle East is obviously an issue that has plagued the region for centuries.  And it’s an issue that elicits a lot of passions, as you heard.

Here’s my view.  Israel is one of our strongest allies.  It has — (applause.)  Let me just play this out.  It is a vibrant democracy.  It shares links with us in all sorts of ways.  It is critical for us and I will never waver from ensuring Israel’s security and helping them secure themselves in what is a very hostile region.  (Applause.)  So I make no apologies for that.

What is also true is that the plight of the Palestinians is something that we have to pay attention to, because it is not good for our security and it is not good for Israel’s security if you’ve got millions of individuals who feel hopeless, who don’t have an opportunity to get an education or get a job or what have you.

Now, the history of there is long and I don’t have time to go through the grievances of both sides in the issue.  What I have said and what we did from the beginning when I came into office is to say we are seeking a two-state solution in which Israel and the Palestinians can live side by side in peace and security.  (Applause.)  In order to do that both sides are going to have to make compromises.  (Applause.)

As a first step, the Palestinians have to unequivocally renounce violence and recognize Israel.  (Applause.)  And Israel has to acknowledge legitimate grievances and interests of the Palestinians.  We know what a solution could look like in the region, but here’s the problem that we’re confronting right now, is that both in Israel and within the Palestinian Territories, the politics are difficult; they’re divided.  The Israel government came in based on the support of a lot of folks who don’t want to make a lot of concessions.  I think Prime Minister Netanyahu is actually making some effort to try to move a little bit further than his coalition wants him to go.  On the other hand, President Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, who I think genuinely wants peace, has to deal with Hamas, an organization that has not recognized Israel and has not disavowed violence.

And so we are working to try to strengthen the ability of both parties to sit down across the table and to begin serious negotiations.  And I think that it’s important when we’re talking about this issue to make sure that we don’t just knee-jerk, use language that is inflammatory or in some fashion discourages the possibility of negotiation.  We’ve got to recognize that both the Palestinian people and Israelis have legitimate aspirations and they can be best served if the United States is helping them understand each other, as opposed to demonizing each other.

The transcript of the full 1+ hour town hall below the fold. More >>