Obama: Israel 'took the land' from Palestinians, 'ceded moral ground' in Gaza

[u/Particular_Log_3594]

https://www.jpost.com/international/article-911851

[u/DamienRyan]

This is exactly the kind of infighting that makes the left so ineffective.

Yes, Obama is very late to the party. Yes you can accuse him of political cowardice. Yes, he was well versed in the sins of the Israeli state leading up to his election in 2008 and did almost nothing for the Palestinians while in power, all these things are true.

He is also a powerful political ally that is moving into the anti Israel tent and everything possible should be done to encourage him to move in further. This is what the right understands and does so well. They ignore these inconsistencies and grievances in pursuit of a larger goal.

If Obama helps bring the end of Israeli occupation and apartheid .1% closer than I welcome him with open arms. I am willing to ignore his opportunistic nature in pursuit of a greater good. We can save the criticism for the history books.

[u/walkallover1991 → u/DamienRyan]

I don't think holding powerful political figures accountable for their records constitutes "infighting," nor do I think welcoming someone into a movement requires suspending criticism of their past actions.

I'm perfectly happy to see Obama adopt a more critical position toward Israel. But there's an enormous difference between expressing sympathy for Palestinians when you're no longer in office and actually using the considerable power of the presidency to challenge the policies that perpetuate their dispossession.

He had eight years to do that. His administration continued providing Israel with billions in military assistance, opposed Palestinian diplomatic initiatives, and largely protected Israel from international accountability, even as settlement expansion continued.

I also disagree with the idea that the right succeeds simply because it overlooks ideological inconsistencies. Conservative movements have frequently demonstrated their willingness to exert enormous pressure on their own political leaders to secure actual policy concessions.

I also find the timing rather interesting, given that we're less than three weeks away from the midterms. I'm not suggesting he can't have genuinely evolved on this issue, but I think it's perfectly reasonable to question why these statements are coming now, particularly when Democrats have spent years alienating voters over their support for Israel.

I'm not arguing that Obama should be excluded from the conversation. I'm arguing that rhetorical evolution shouldn't automatically confer moral or political absolution, particularly when the person in question helped sustain the very conditions they're now criticizing.

We can welcome a change in position while still demanding accountability - those things aren't mutually exclusive.

[u/phishxiii → u/walkallover1991]

Nah he's right, it's never enough with people like you. So tiring.

[u/Enterprise-DeezNuts → u/phishxiii]

"it's never enough" and the "it" in question is just a statement that says nothing more than "yeah Israel is doing some bad stuff now". He has done nothing to materially help the Palestinian cause. This is literally what virtue signalling used to mean before the right stole it: saying you support a cause without actually doing anything material to support it or aligning your actions with support for the cause