‘Israel Is Engaging In Occupation Of Palestinian Land, Nobody’s Hands Are Clean’ – Obama
Former US President, Barack Obama has said the “whole truth” must be understood before the long-term conflict between Israel and Palestine can be resolved.
Obama spoke to Pod Save America a podcast and YouTube channel which describes itself as a “no-bullshit conversation” about politics hosted by former Obama Aides about the violence in Gaza.
A month ago, Hamas launched an unexpected attack on Israel.
Israel declared war, placed the Palestinian territory of Gaza under siege, launched air strikes and then began a ground operation.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said at least 9,770 Palestinians have been killed since the war began.
Amid growing calls for a humanitarian pause international protests calling for a ceasefire, and an increase in antisemitic (and anti-Muslim) hate crimes, Obama explained why he believes the conflict is so divisive.
He said: “If there’s any chance of us being able to act, constructively, it will require an admission of complexity and maintaining what on the surface may seem contradictory ideas, that what Hamas did was horrific, and there’s no justification for it.
And what is also true is that the occupation, and what’s happening to Palestinians is unbearable.”
There was a brief round of applause at this point, before Obama continued: “And what is also true is there is a history of the Jewish people that may be dismissed unless your grandparents, or your great-grandparents, or your uncle or your aunt, tell you stories about the madness of antisemitism.”
“And what is true is that there are people right now who are dying, who have nothing to do with what Hamas did.
And what is true, I mean, we can go on for a while.
The problem with social media and TikTok activism and trying to debate this on that, is that you can’t speak the truth.
You can pretend to speak the truth. You can speak one side of the truth. And in some cases, you can try to maintain your moral innocence.
But that won’t solve the problem. If you want to solve the problem, then you have to take in the whole truth and you then have to admit nobody’s hands are clean.
That all of us are complicit to some degree, “ Obama stated.
Obama admitted that he also felt guilty for the conflict, and wondered if he could have done more to prevent it when he was president.
He said that he tried to push for a peace process, but faced resistance from both Israeli and Palestinian leaders, as well as domestic politics in the US.
In a statement last week posted on his social media channels, Obama expressed concern that Israel’s countermeasures, which included restricting access to essential supplies in Gaza and resulted in civilian casualties, might be counterproductive.
Obama suggested that such actions could entrench negative perceptions among Palestinians towards Israel, diminish global support for the country, and potentially hinder efforts aimed at achieving a lasting peace.
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