Obama: Use flotilla tragedy for peace

[sabra]

Source: CNN

(CNN) - CNN's Larry King sat down with President Barack Obama Thursday for an interview airing at 9 p.m. ET.

The highlights:

– Obama said that Israel "has legitimate security concerns" in Gaza, but the Israeli blockade "is preventing people" from pursuing economic opportunities. This week's incident regarding the flotilla is a "tragic situation," he said. We need to "use (it) as an opportunity" to advance the Middle East peace process.



Read more: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/category/president-obama/?fbid=VP2LgjjHQ1T&hpt=T2

[Lance_Boyle]

1. Nice one, Chief.

"You executed a teenage countryman of mine for no apparent reason. Go in peace and pursue economic opportunities(?!?)."

Fuck that.

[mbperrin]

2. Preventing economic opportunities like getting food and medicine to

survive, right?

I'm completely disgusted by the US backing murder on the high seas.










But I'm a nobody, so who cares?

[karynnj]

29. The US is not backing muder on the high seas

President Obama sounds like he is asking Israel to lift or at least lessen the blockade.

The main goal of the flotilla was to break the blockade. What they succeeded in doing, at great cost, was to shine a spotlight on that blockade. Very few American politicians spoke against the blockade before this. Obama is not diminishing the loss of life, when he asks that this be a turning point on the way to a two state solution.

[mbperrin]

33. When we let the IDF do their own investigation, what do you think they

will find?

I'm sure that they will find that there were innocent IDF folk enjoying a cruise when evil people armed with deck chairs suddenly attacked them for no reason, with really deadly deck chairs, and so they had no choice but to kill the furniture folk with heavy duty paintball guns they had with them for the afternoon tournament, to be followed by shuffleboard.

The US will say, "All righty, then, well, how fortunate we are to know the truth."

[tango-tee]

45. Not to forget...

...that these armed-with-deck-chairs thugs had the nerve to disrupt the innocent game of Israel's "boarding party" rapelling onto their ship in the dead of night! Have they no sense of humor and playfulness? Jeez.

[Catherina]

3. Ass-kissing weak n/t

[Journeyman]

4. Why look! Up there, in the sky! Is that rhubarb or cherry pie? . . .

[harun]

5. Weak sauce.

[pattmarty]

6. Well it's nice he chose a tough interviewer like Larry King and not...........

.............someone who lobs softballs like an Amy Goodman or Rachael Maddow or even KO.















YES, IT IS SATIRE.

[snappyturtle]

7. Thanks for reminding me! Set the DVR....your link is interesting.

The President is MAD about the 'spill'...whoa! Yes!

[Nite Owl]

8. Guess you can't pursue

'economic opportunities' if you are dead or dying.

[Mari333]

9. More Obama Milquetoast. blah.

[dgibby]

10. Larry was just on CNN, promoting this interview.

He asked Obama about what happens if it "rains oil". Said he didn't get an answer. Should be an interesting interview.

[Wizard777]

11. Will we still need to pursue peace when the shoes on the other foot?

When Hamas is not wanting to take their lumps for firing rockets into Israel.......in self defense of course.

:shrug:

[liberation]

13. Shooting a WWII era rocket that couldn't hit the broad side of a barn...

... and killing in international waters foreigners on board of boats carrying humanitarian aid. Same thing, really....

[liberation]

12. To a good neo-liberal it's all about economic opportunities, I guess...

I am sure the main beef for all those people in the refugee camps is just that they can't make it to their favorite Wall Mart. Right?

[karynnj]

30. Are you saying that the Palestinians in the Gaza strip do not want jobs?

They want more than that, but they do want opportunity. Beyond that they want as this Israeli journalist wrote:

"But what about a person's need for freedom of movement, a person's right to create, to produce, to earn a living and study, to leave for timely medical treatment and to travel? The spokespeople and PR professionals who try to prove things are fine reduce human needs to a graph containing only water, food and shelter. These graphs tell more about their presenters than they do about human beings."

Obama saying they want jobs and opportunity, that could result from peace does not mean that other things - like the Gaza strip not being a "large prison" happen too.

[JDPriestly]

14. I agree with Obama. No one gains from that.

[JDPriestly]

18. Here is my full post.

I was interrupted.

The Israelis live in fear. The Palestinians live in poverty. The solution is to negotiate plan for the future that is acceptable to the majority in both Israel and the Palestinian areas.

Jewish people suffered not just in WWII but in pogroms and horrible retaliation going back to the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. The Russian pogroms and the Spanish Inquisition are two examples of the horror that Jewish people have experienced over many centuries.

I am not Jewish, but I believe that the Jewish people have a right to feel safe somewhere.

Palestinians also have a right to be safe and prosperous. But the Palestinians can be safe in many places other than the Gaza Strip. If they want to live in that area, then they need to live with the reality there. I seriously doubt that Israelis will ever give up their fight. They have no place to go but Israel, that is no place to go where they can feel really safe after the many, many centuries of violence perpetrated against them in so many parts of the world.

[westerebus]

21. A safe place, well two, actually.

There's Palm Springs and Boca Raton. No rockets, great deli's, and their biggest fear is another Bernie Madoff stealing the kid's inheritance.

Trust me on this. Even my Uncle Schmoolie said he would never go back:

"A visit, maybe. Live? No way, those people are crazy over there!"

[depakid]

15. No justice, no peace

Pretty simple concept, with broad application.

[Ignis]

28. +1

[KG]

16. israel is not interested in peace.

[SnapShawt]

17. Intreresting

... since neither is Iran, Yemen, and on and on. Oh, wait, they're "oppressed and misunderstood" I guess.

[wordpix]

19. bullshit

[EFerrari]

20. You can't continue to commit crimes against your enemy

and pretend you are interested in peace at the same time.

Or, I suppose you could but no one will take you seriously just as Israel is not being taken seriously right now.

[JDPriestly]

22. Are you aware that, when they can, the Palestinians lob rockets

at Israel? Do you remember the last time that peace was about to break out and the Palestinians planted car bombs in Israel?

"You can't continue to commit crimes against your enemy and pretend you are interested in peace at the same time." Goes for both sides.

Let's hope that both sides get serious about peace.

[EFerrari]

23. Whenever the question of Irael's brutality is raised, instead of

taking responsibility for those actions, the victim card is played. It's a very interesting double standard. The Israeli insane right says it is in an armed conflict and so justifies the collective punishment of Gaza WHILE it says that the Hamas rockets are illegitimate.

So, which is it? Is it an armed conflict or is it not an armed conflict? They and their defenders want it both ways. They want Israel to enjoy impunity AND they want to wallow in their victimhood.

The argument is irrational and no serious person can accept such a premise.

[JDPriestly]

25. I have probably lived longer than you.

I remember all the wars that started, inevitably, by someone thinking they were acting on behalf of the Palestinians. There was the one in 1967, then something around 1973, and on and on. The Palestinians or their friends always started a war, always lost and then screamed that they were the victims.

I watched these events very carefully at the time they occurred. During the events in the 1970s through the early 1980s, I was reading European newspapers, not American ones. I remember these events so clearly.

So, I would say that there is an armed conflict that has gone on as the Palestinians have refused to accept the outcome of WWII. The outcome of WWII in case you were not alive is that many national boundaries were changed and there were many, many refugees. Lots of Eastern Europeans fled to the U.S. Lots of Germans fled to Canada, South America, even Africa and Australia.

The state of Israel was founded in order to have some place to put the around one million Jews who remained in the prison camps for about a year after the end of the war and had absolutely no safe place to go. They would have been massacred had they been released into the German and Eastern European populations in large numbers.

Israel exists for historical reasons, good historical reasons. If you want to fight WWII again, then destroy Israel. Israel exists for a good reason. You should study history before you make up your mind about what is going on in what used to be a part of the Turkish Ottoman Empire, came under British rule as a British Protectorate after WWI, and was partitioned into Jordan, Palestine and Israel after WWII.

My family assisted in collecting food and aid for refugees. My father was particularly concerned about the Palestinians back in the 1950s. They were, at that time, living in refugee camps. I heard a lot as a child about what victims they were. They still play the role of victims. Meanwhile their leaders, such as Yasser Arafat, amass fortunes in Switzerland and send their wives to retire overseas. When will the Palestinians wise up and join the human race? It would be so easy. Had my father not been so concerned about them way back in the 1950s, I would not see what has been going on.

The Palestinians have immense support from some of the wealthiest countries in the Middle East. The Palestinians refuse to accept the world as it is. That is their problem.

The Israelis who left countries like Germany and Austria had lived in those countries for centuries. Many of them had built homes, beautiful homes in some cases. Those homes, everything that the Jewish people had worked for was taken from them. They will never be able to go back. They have been paid reparations, but they have had to accept that the homes their ancestors built will never be theirs. It was not their fault. The Jews did nothing to deserve to lose their homes. The Jews had to accept that they were refugees and had to move to new homes. They made the best of it and now you view them as the aggressors. The Palestinians need to make the best of their situation. If they wish, they can demand reparations. But they cannot return to Israel. No more than the Israelis can return to Germany, Austria, Poland, Hungary, France, parts of Africa, Morocco, Tunesia, yes even Saudi Arabia and Syria and the rest of the Middle East. Can't be done. I can't grow younger. History has this way of moving on. We have to move with it.

[EFerrari]

31. I know your response is meant in good faith but I'm not re-fighting WW2,

rather pointing out the inconsistency of Israel assuming war powers *while* they claim their adversary is illegitimate.

In fact, there is no argument that can be made for a safe haven for Jews that cannot also be made for Palestinians. So, inadvertently, you have illustrated the double standard I'm pointing out.

[ieoeja]

34. That is why Israel should grant Gaza independence.

And treat them like any other sovereign nation.

Of course, the way one normally treats a sovereign nation that launches rockets at you is to carpet bomb the fuck out of them. So Gaza might not like independence. But they should be given the choice.

[EFerrari]

37. It's not up to Israel to grant anything. Again, is there an armed conflict or not?

If there is, what is up with these complaints about the rockets?

If there isn't, why does Israel have Gaza under siege?

[JDPriestly]

35. That is why a two-state solution is needed. That is why the people in

the Gaza Strip need to agree to recognize Israel in exchange for some of the things they want. Israel has made some pretty good offers. It's up to the Palestinians.

Personally, and as one who has done negotiations on a much smaller scale than these peace talks (needless to say, what could be that huge), I think both sides are close to agreement. This kind of tough action is usually intended to soften the other side. True for both sides. That's just the way negotiations proceed.

[EFerrari]

38. You may be right. I hope so. n/t

[westerebus]

39. The British Empire strikes again.

Not to put to fine a point on this, our Allies were not inclined to take in the death camp survivors. Neither were we. The Brit's offer was to expatriate the Jewish survivors to Palestine. A safe haven which was under British military control post WWII.

Up until that point, there was no state of Israel. 1948 was the first Israeli-Arab war.

[JDPriestly]

44. Up until that time there was no Palestinian state either.

Is there a Palestinian state at this time? If so, is Gaza a part of it? Until the current situation, there has never been a state of Palestine. There was an ancient state of Israel. The are was in modern times governed by the Ottoman Empire until after WWI when, thanks to the fact that the Ottoman Empire was an ally of the Germans and Austrians in WWI, Britain took charge of the area. That is what is normally done after a war is won. We took charge of West Germany after WWII along with our other allies. That is what is normally done after a war.

[Violet_Crumble]

41. Well, claiming Israel is interested in peace is total bullshit...

You are aware that the current Israeli govt is a hardline RW one consisting of fascists and racists and some MK's openly advocate the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians? That govt is not the slightest bit interested in peace...

[Doctor_J]

24. Is there a viable Dem candidate who would actually LEAD the US

from the WH, if elected? I am getting more disappointed with my choice each day.

[lumpy]

26. Glad Obama has awoken to realize the Palestinians are not

thriving and surviving.

[Ignis]

27. We like Peace, but Justice can fuck right off, eh?

Might as well tell the world: "Shoot US citizens 4x in the head while they're engaged in delivering humanitarian aid all you want, we don't really care!"

:thumbsdown:

[Arkana]

32. Well, that's a more levelheaded response than I would have given.

I'd have strangled Bibi Netanyahu by now.

[proteus_lives]

36. Obama's lost the votes of the anti-Israel brigade.

I think he'll survive. ;-)

[Violet_Crumble]

40. Y'know, just because people do criticise Israel doesn't make them 'anti-Israel'

No more than back when bushco was in govt that criticising their actions made any of us 'anti-American'. It really does get tiring to see the same few DUers running round labelling any DUer who criticises what Israel's done to the flotilla as being 'anti-Israel'

[Ignis]

42. As long as he has the support of patriots like Steve Rosen, right?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mj-rosenberg/is-obama-more-aipac-than_b_465337.html

[Scurrilous]

43. Israeli blockade of Gaza unsustainable: White House

<snip>

"The White House said on Friday Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip was unsustainable and urged a Gaza aid vessel sent by pro-Palestinian activists to divert to an Israeli port to reduce the risk of violence.

"We are working urgently with Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and other international partners to develop new procedures for delivering more goods and assistance to Gaza," said Mike Hammer, spokesman for the White House National Security Council.

"The current arrangements are unsustainable and must be changed. For now, we call on all parties to join us in encouraging responsible decisions by all sides to avoid any unnecessary confrontations," Hammer said in a statement."

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6536PD20100604