Obama's Egyptian Speech

A reader says:

"As an Israeli, Obama's speach in Egypt and comparing the holocaust with the Palestinian suffering is really tasteless and back stabbing."

I reply:

Instead of riling up everyone with your false characterization of Obama's Egyptian speech, why not take the time to read Obama's speech?

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-at-Cairo-University-6-04-09/

Obama states:

"America's strong bonds with Israel are well known. This bond is unbreakable. It is based upon cultural and historical ties, and the recognition that the aspiration for a Jewish homeland is rooted in a tragic history that cannot be denied."

Now these are the two paragraphs that I believe you are referring to.

"Around the world, the Jewish people were persecuted for centuries, and anti-Semitism in Europe culminated in an unprecedented Holocaust. Tomorrow, I will visit Buchenwald, which was part of a network of camps where Jews were enslaved, tortured, shot and gassed to death by the Third Reich. Six million Jews were killed -- more than the entire Jewish population of Israel today. Denying that fact is baseless, it is ignorant, and it is hateful. Threatening Israel with destruction -- or repeating vile stereotypes about Jews -- is deeply wrong, and only serves to evoke in the minds of Israelis this most painful of memories while preventing the peace that the people of this region deserve.

"On the other hand, it is also undeniable that the Palestinian people -- Muslims and Christians -- have suffered in pursuit of a homeland. For more than 60 years they've endured the pain of dislocation. Many wait in refugee camps in the West Bank, Gaza, and neighboring lands for a life of peace and security that they have never been able to lead. They endure the daily humiliations -- large and small -- that come with occupation. So let there be no doubt: The situation for the Palestinian people is intolerable. And America will not turn our backs on the legitimate Palestinian aspiration for dignity, opportunity, and a state of their own."

It takes a warped reading to suggest that Obama is saying that Palestinian suffering is the moral equivalent of the holocaust. No where do he suggest that. Rather, he states the indisputable facts-- the fact of the holocaust and Israel's right to exist and the fact of the Palestinian diaspora and their yearning for statehood. The denial of either set of historical facts is dishonest. Given the realization of those two sets of facts, is there common ground? The essence of Obama's speech is that there is indeed.