Obama to Israelis: 'Put Yourselves in Shoes' of Palestinians

by Ben Shapiro 

On Thursday, President Barack Obama spoke in Jerusalem – a city he once promised would remain undivided – about all of the shortcomings of the state of Israel. Lecturing Israel about its democracy, economy, foreign policy, and basic humanity, Obama harangued the Jewish State while stumping for a “possible” two-state solution.

 

Obama led off with the usual bevy of platitudes, plus a few cultural jokes. “This is a nation of museums and patents, timeless holy sites and ground-breaking innovation,” he gushed. “[A]ny drama between me and my friend Bibi over the years was just a plot to create material for Eretz Nehederet,” he continued, referencing a popular Israeli television show.

He paid tribute to the need for Israeli security without offering any solutions. He stated, “I also think about a people who have a living memory of the Holocaust, faced with the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iranian government that has called for Israel’s destruction.” Obama obviously had no problem with his administration repeatedly leaking Israeli security information that could have allowed Israel to launch a strike to prevent that second Holocaust. And in Jerusalem, Obama continued to insist that negotiations would be the real solution, despite all evidence to the contrary.

He suggested that Israel would not be going anywhere, despite its enemies opposition to its existence. But he actually stated that Israel could not continue to exist unless it made concessions to the Palestinians: “Given the demographics west of the Jordan River, the only way for Israel to endure and thrive as a Jewish and democratic state is through the realization of an independent and viable Palestine.”

He offered no real solutions on how Israel would stave off its enemies in the aftermath of a devastating Muslim Brotherhood sea change throughout the Middle East. Actually, he went further – he said that in the aftermath of a popular revolution bringing Israel’s direct enemies to power, Israel should cave: “This is precisely the time to respond to the wave of revolution with a resolve for peace.”

But all that was prelude. His real agenda was hijacking the Jewish story to apply to Palestinian Arabs who largely support the outright destruction of the state of Israel. “I believe that Israel is rooted not just in history and tradition, but also in a simple and profound idea: the idea that people deserve to be free in a land of their own,” Obama said. He then stated, “the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and justice must also be recognized.

“Put yourself in their shoes,” the President condescendingly urged, to a population assaulted with rockets and suicide bombs for decades. “Look at the world through their eyes. It is not fair that a Palestinian child cannot grow up in a state of her own, and lives with the presence of a foreign army that controls the movements of her parents every single day.” Obama did not mention the basic fact that the Palestinian leadership has repeatedly denied every multilateral and Israeli offer for a state; that they have stolen hundreds of millions of dollars from economic development; that they have channeled cash toward funding a low-level terror war with Israel; that Israel has handed over vast swaths of land to Palestinian Authority control. And Obama didn’t bother to explain how justice requires the creation of a terror state that would murder gays and condemn women to second-class status. No, Obama said, it was Israel’s lack of understanding that was the chief barrier to peace.

Then Obama insulted Israel’s democracy: “Only you can determine what kind of democracy you will have. But remember that as you make these decisions, you will define not simply the future of your relationship with the Palestinians – you will define the future of Israel as well.”

What, though, of Palestinian intransigence? What of the fact that after two full decades of Oslo, there is no two-state solution? Obama simply rewrote both history and current events. As it turns out, the Palestinians don’t want Israel’s destruction. They’re ready for peace. “While I know you have had differences with the Palestinian Authority, I believe you do have a true partner in President Abbas and Prime Minister Fayyad,” said Obama, all evidence to the contrary. Obama explained that “peace is possible,” even if “it doesn’t seem that way.” Sure, Jews may die. Sure, rockets may fall on S’derot. But hope and change! “Peace beings … in the hearts of people … in this sacred city of Jerusalem,” Obama blathered. “You must create the change that you want to see. I know this is possible …. Your hopes must light the way forward.”

And finally, this whopper: “Sometimes, the greatest miracle is recognizing that the world can change.”

No, Mr. President. The greatest miracle would be the world finally recognizing reality. But Obama has no interest in reality. He is interested only in himself, and in his role as world visionary.

Ben Shapiro is Editor-At-Large of Breitbart News and author of the book “Bullies: How the Left’s Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences America” (Threshold Editions, January 8, 2013).