Obama Parties Like It's 1967

What can I say about President Obama's remarks concerning Israel? At best, they were steeped in moral equivalence. At worst, he demonstrates his profound ignorance about the history of The Jewish State:

For decades, the conflict between Israelis and Arabs has cast a shadow over the region. For Israelis, it has meant living with the fear that their children could be blown up on a bus or by rockets fired at their homes, as well as the pain of knowing that other children in the region and taught to hate them. For Palestinians, it has meant suffering the humiliation of occupation, and never living in a nation of their own.

So let's see here. Israelis are faced with hatred and death while Palestinians are faced with "humiliation." Who is Obama kidding? Any humiliation suffered on the part of the Palestinians was brought about by their leadership, not by Israel. Let us remember that the State of Israel was established through the United Nations Partition Plan of 1947. In case President Obama is too ignorant for words, partition means to divide. Lo and behold, The British Mandate for Palestine was to be divided into a Jewish land and an Arab land. The Jews accepted. The Arabs didn't and instead told their people to leave which they did thus giving rise to the term Palestinian refugee, a group of refugees unlike any other in the world. As for the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, they were controlled (occupied if you will) by Egypt and Jordan, respectively. Isn't it curious how there was no clamor for a Palestinian state until after Israel took over Gaza and The West Bank following the Six Day War in June 1967?

Ah yes, 1967. The year President Obama believes "the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on." Of course, he dropped that bombshell right after stating scarcely seconds earlier, "No peace can be imposed upon them - not by the United States, not by anybody else." President Obama's knack of contradicting himself never ceases to amaze.

With that in mind, perhaps we can expect some tap dancing from Obama in the coming days. But let's assume Obama draws a line in the sand at 1967. Does this also mean Israel has to return The Golan Heights to Syria? No wonder George Mitchell walked away. It's all quite unsettling. Speaking of which:

For over two years, my administration has worked with the parties and the international community to end this conflict, building on decades of work by previous administrations. Yet expectations have gone unmet. Israeli settlement activity continues. Palestinians have walked away from talks.

Well, when in doubt, Obama brings it back to the settlements which he has long considered an obstacle to peace. Yet there hasn't been an Israeli settler in Gaza since 2005. And what has Israel got in return for unilaterally dismantling settlements in Gaza? A kidnapped soldier (who is still in captivity), a war with Hamas and ongoing rocket attacks. Some peace.

It has been said that Obama is stuck in the 1960's with regard to his domestic policies. Apparently, the same can now be said of Obama where it concerns Israel.