First there was the speech. Then there was the criticism for what seemed to be a case where Obama was calling for the Israeli pre-1967 lines to be reestablished. Then cooler heads like Ed Morrissey and Doug chimed in, throwing a bit of cold water on the kefuffle. Oh, and then the BBC chimed in
US President Barack Obama has insisted that the “1967 border” must be the “basis for negotiations” to set up a future Palestinian state.
In an interview with the BBC, Mr Obama said the position was “obvious” to those who had followed the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said the lines, from before the 1967 Middle East conflict, were “indefensible”.
Israel has build extensive Jewish settlements across the area.
“The basis for negotiations will involve looking at that 1967 border, recognising that conditions on the ground have changed and there are going to need to be swaps to accommodate the interests of both sides,” Mr Obama told the BBC’s Andrew Marr in an interview to be broadcast on Sunday.
It can be parsed any which way, but, this is Obama telling Israeli that they will have to give up land they won in a war they were forced to fight, and getting pretty much nothing in return. these “swaps” may have been US policy, but, what do the Palestinians have to offer, other than violence and misery?
Yes, other Presidents and Israeli leaders have discussed this as a part a policy, but, never have the propped it up in a speech extolling the uprisings in the Arab/Muslim world, especially when he also said: “As for security, every state has the right to self-defense, and Israel must be able to defend itself – by itself – against any threat.”
Quite frankly, if you the speech, it is not bad, though long winded and devoid of any acknowledgement that Obama has mostly been absent. Also, he does, at times, take the Palestinians to task. But, it almost seems as if he made that conflict the primary purpose of the speech, since that was the final bit, and that he was washing his hands of the whole thing. So, Arab/ Muslim nations, feel free to attack.
Oh, and the while thing was meaningless, since no actions will follow his standard boilerplate speech.
Florida Senator Alan West offers this beat down of Obama’s call for the return to 1967 borders:
http://west.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4216:congressman-allen-west-response-to-president-barack-obamas-call-for-a-two-state-solution-in-israel&catid=73:press-releases&Itemid=2
The true flashes of the moron he is. obuma telling Israel to give back land won on a war the country DID NOT START OR WANT. How many countries return the spoils o war, especially territory to their sworn enemies.
Israel should have finsihed the arbs off long ago when the country had the chance and the global community was not a bunch of pussies and wussies. bad enough the mullah in the White House cannot run the USA but he has no business telling Israel what to do.
F–k gazastan, and the muslim world. Oops, there I go being an islamophobe again.
The word Palestine and it’s derivatives need to be deleted from vocabulary.
There are no Palestinians merely Arabs who formerly lived in Israel.