Is it just me or its very CLEAR that Obama is not pro-Palestinian or even sympathetic to the Palestinian. He straight up insulted the Palestinian people by insisting that the Jewish occupation and annexation of Eastern Jerusalem "should remain both the capital of the Jewish nation and undivided."
I'm not happy with Obama's stance on Palestine, but can people stop saying that he's pro-Palestine now since he just insulted the Palestinian people and legitimized their occupation of Eastern Jerusalem.
What more does he have to do to appease Jewish voters and Christian-Zionists?
Senator Barack Obama started a new phase of his campaign at a conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
June 5, 2008
Obama Offers Assurances at Pro-Israel Meeting
By JOHN M. BRODER and MICHAEL POWELL
WASHINGTON — Senator Barack Obama, in his first day as the Democrats’ presumptive presidential nominee, plunged into the thicket of Middle East politics on Wednesday with comments on the status of Jerusalem and deterrence of Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
Speaking before the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the nation’s foremost pro-Israel lobby, Mr. Obama endorsed a two-state Israel-Palestine settlement, but also insisted that Jerusalem should remain both the capital of the Jewish nation and undivided.
Those remarks drew immediate criticism from Palestinian leaders in the West Bank and Gaza, with Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for Hamas, saying that Mr. Obama’s speech proved there would be no change in American policy toward the Palestinians, which he described as “hostile.”
Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, expressed frustration. “The whole world knows that East Jerusalem, holy Jerusalem, was occupied in 1967,” Mr. Abbas said, “and we will not accept a Palestinian state without having Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state.”
[...]
Mr. Obama answered that criticism on Wednesday, saying that the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards had rightly been labeled a terrorist organization. He has defended his stance on the Senate measure, which was approved by a wide margin, by calling the bill unnecessarily belligerent and overbroad.
Shortly after Mr. Obama spoke, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton also addressed the group. While Mrs. Clinton did not acknowledge that Mr. Obama was the party’s nominee, she vouched for his friendship and concern for Israel.
“Let me be very clear,” Mrs. Clinton said. “I know Senator Obama will be a good friend of Israel.”
[...]
Mr. Obama gave a brief nod at his speech’s start to the Internet rumors that swirl about his religion and his commitment to the Jewish state.
“All I want to say is, let me know if you see this guy named Barack Obama,” he said, “because he sounds pretty scary.”
This elicited modest laughs from the audience, which throughout the first half of his speech seemed most intent on listening and drawing his measure.
So he continued, “But if anyone has been confused by these e-mails, I want you to know that today I’ll be speaking from my heart, and as a true friend of Israel.”
Mr. Obama concluded by invoking the memory of the many Jews who joined the American civil rights struggle, and referred to the fraying of that alliance.
“This is a bond that must be strengthened,” Mr. Obama said. “Together, we can rededicate ourselves to end prejudice and combat hatred.”
[... Read full article here]
Isabel Kershner contributed reporting from Jerusalem, and Steven Lee Myers from Washington.
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