[tomder55]

Typically when a President goes to Israel ,he makes a speech to the Knesset . Of the four presidents who have visited Israel while in office, only Obama is skipping the Knesset. Jimmy Carter, Bill Clintoon and George W. Bush formally addressed the Knesset, while Richard Nixon spoke at an official Knesset banquet.Emperor Zero decided to snub the Knesset and instead spoke to a select group of hand picked students at the Jerusalem convention Center .

[QUOTE]That initial snub did not go unnoticed. The Prime Minister’s Office and a number of Knesset members passed messages to the White House saying they would be much happier if the speech took place in the Knesset. But senior U.S. officials have insisted that Obama decided to deliver his messages directly to the Israeli public, especially the younger generation, not just to politicians in the Knesset.[/QUOTE]
Obama Boycotting the Knesset and Ariel University | The Jewish Press
Theses were not just any students . These were students from so called "Post Zionist " groups from Israeli colleges. Students from Ariel University which is situated in the West bank surprisingly were not invited to attend.
Labor MK calls on students to boycott Obama speech | The Times of Israel
Not surprising then that Obama was treated like a rock star.

The President's speech was typical boiler plate pablum about a Palestinian state ,scoulding Israel about settlements as if that's the sole impediment to a new round of negotiations. Throughout his 2 day visit he kept on touting the legitimacy of the leader of the kleptocrats in Palestine Mahmoud Abbas (a “true partner”) and leaving out the fact that any election in the West Bank would end up in an Hamas victory ,and a defeat for the PLO and Fatah .

Basically the President's speech turned into just another community organizing event . He even used the core theme of Saul Alinsky . He called out Israel as it is opposed to what it should be. He said the Israelis in the audience should do a run around the country's leaders to create the Israel they want to see... to and just seize the day. ("“You must create the change that you want to see.” " )
Can you imagine a leader of another country visiting here ,snubbing the government ;and instead directly speaking to opponents of the government policy ,and telling them to force a change in government policy ?

Let's give him the benefit of the doubt and best intentions . Was he even speaking to the right audience ? Would his message of making a risk in the peace process better serve young Palestinians ? Shouldn't he demand that they confront their leaders to take the steps necessary to create 2 states living in peace ?
But no . The President by his words puts the blame for lack of progress on Israel. He tells them to walk in the Palestinian shoes . Bunk ! It's the Palestinians who have failed in this process . The President said "... the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and justice must also be recognized." Perhaps the peace process can begin when the Palestinians recognize Israel's right to exist .

[speechlesstx]

Do the Palestinians have shoes to walk in?

Typical Obama, he's taken his campaign to Israel. But hey, bypassing the Knesset to go to the people is surely to boost his 10 percent approval rating there.

The Onion has it pegged.

Palestinians, Israelis Come Together To Mock Obama's Hopelessly Naive Speech

[tomder55]

The President further demonstrated his contempt for Israel in 2 instances . First ;he made a speech where he stood under a banner of a triumphant Yasser Arafat ;the father of modern terrorism . Keep in mind that when he spoke at Georgetown ,he insisted that they cover with black plywood , a pediment with a symbol of the name of Jesus( "IHS" ) . Groups under Arafat's command ,including Fatah, Black September, Tanzim and Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, were responsible for hundreds of bombings, hijackings, assassinations and other attacks.

The other incident that happened was that Bibi Netanyahu succumbed to Obaba's arm twisting (the press calls it :the President brokered a detente) ,and apologized to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan ;for the boarding of the Mavi Marmara in 2010 that resulted in the death of nine Turkish "activists" who were attempting to deliver "supplies " to Gaza . This is the same Erdogan who last month called Zionism is a crime against humanity at the UN .

Bibi not only apologized ,but agreed to pay compensation. You will recall that the incident turned violent when the so called peace activists resisted by beating Israeli troops with iron bars and knives . The troops boarded the ship to inspect it's cargo.Even the UN acknowledged that Israel had the right to blockade Gaza . So while Obama stood over him ,Bibi groveled and made the call.

I understand the American interests in a détente. The US supports anti-Assad jihadists with a covert supply of weapons that are smuggled into the battle through Turkey. It is in Obama's interest that Turkey continue this arrangement ;so Bibi can eat it. This is the price that Israel must make for being our ally... apologize for defending your country. Obama leaves Israel claiming a diplomatic victory.

[paraclete]

Let us just call him what he is, a DH of the first order, but you can't expect anything else for anyone who has himself for counsel is a fool. You can't expect him to address a jewish parliament because then he would have to address a Palestinian parliament and we know that doesn't exist, so he should not have made an address anywhere

[speechlesstx]

And he becomes a champion to all the Palestinian sympathizers.

[paraclete]

I think he was that already, he has bought into the underdog BS of the Palestinians, forgetting the forces arrayed against Israel. Israel might allow the Palestinians to exist but the Palestinians will not allow israel to exist

[tomder55]

let us just call him what he is, a DH of the first order, but you can't expect anything else for anyone who has himself for counsel is a fool. You can't expect him to address a jewish parliament because then he would have to address a palistinian parliament and we know that doesn't exist, so he should not have made an address anywhere

yup and that includes his rush to make his apology tour in Cairo and Ankara 2009 .

[speechlesstx]

I think he was that already, he has bought into the underdog BS of the palistinians, forgetting the forces arrayed against Israel. Israel might allow the palistinians to exist but the palistinians will not allow israel to exist

I think being on the American left automatically makes you a Palestinisn sympathizer, but scoring that apology and lecturing Israel makes him a hero, nay, a god. He can always point to the tree planting photo op to bolster his friend of Israel image.

[paraclete]

He is not a friend of Israel Speech he is a friend of BO

[talaniman]

I guess Israel, like the US, has its never to please right wing too!

[tomder55]

You mean the people with the missiles raining down on them to the tune of 3000 rockets in the last year ? Yeah I would be hard to please too.

[speechlesstx]

he is not a friend of Israel Speech he is a friend of BO

Tell me something a little less obvious.

[paraclete]

He is symathetic to Muslims, and I think he stands for very little. Here is a desperate man whose only legacy will be years of stalemate and division

[talaniman]

you mean the people with the missiles raining down on them to the tune of 3000 rockets in the last year ? Yeah I would be hard to please too.

Hasn't stopped them from expanding.

[talaniman]

He is symathetic to Muslims, and I think he stands for very little. Here is a desperate man whose only legacy will be years of stalemate and division

Why shouldn't we be fair after all the middle east has been nothing but conflicts for centuries.

[speechlesstx]

Fair, OK. When the Palestinians stop raining rockets on Israel and recognize their right (and the Jews' right) to exist let's talk.

[paraclete]

Why shouldn't we be fair after all the middle east has been nothing but conflicts for centuries.

Fair, what is fair about a war that never ends. All right the palestinians were dispossessed but most of them fled because of the mad Muffti, not an actual threat, now they want to come back to something they abandoned. Israel conquered them but is willing to coexist with a palestinian territory as long as there is security and an end to the hamas bombardment.

To suggest this has beeen going on for centuries is nonsense It started with the british occupation after WW1 and Britian's Balfour Agreement. Before that there was nothing but a Turkish backwoods with few people, it only became valuable to the arabs once israel was established Israel was set up to fail from the beginning and the fact that it hasn't is a tribute to the tenacity of the Jewish people. People like Obama have forgotten history and the reason why Israel exists and the palestinians should just suck it up and get on with life which could be very good if they were sensible and focused on economic development and cooperation instead of war

[tomder55]

The President further demonstrated his contempt for Israel in 2 instances . First ;he made a speech where he stood under a banner of a triumphant Yasser Arafat ;the father of modern terrorism . Keep in mind that when he spoke at Georgetown ,he insisted that they cover with black plywood , a pediment with a symbol of the name of Jesus( "IHS" ) . Groups under Arafat's command ,including Fatah, Black September, and Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, were responsible for hundreds of bombings, hijackings, assassinations and other attacks.

The other incident that happened was that Bibi Netanyahu succumbed to Obaba's arm twisting (the press calls it :the President brokered a detente) ,and apologized to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan ;for the boarding of the Mavi Marmara in 2010 that resulted in the death of nine Turkish "activists" who were attempting to deliver "supplies " to Gaza through an Israeli blockade . This is the same Erdogan who last month called Zionism is a crime against humanity at the UN .The flotillas were organized by Obama's mentor William Ayers.

Bibi not only apologized ,but agreed to pay compensation. You will recall that the incident turned violent when the so called peace activists resisted by beating Israeli troops with iron bars and knives . The troops boarded the ship to inspect it's cargo.Even the UN acknowledged that Israel had the right to blockade Gaza . So while Obama stood over him ,Bibi groveled and made the call.

I understand the American interests in a détente. The US supports anti-Assad jihadists with a covert supply of weapons that are smuggled into the battle through Turkey. It is in Obama's interest that Turkey continue this arrangement ;so Bibi can eat it. This is the price that Israel must make for being our ally... apologize for defending your country. Obama left Israel claiming a diplomatic victory.

Now the comedy begins . JF Kerry stayed behind to jump start the peace process. To Obama ,the Israeli -Palestinian issue is a side show to the larger conflict in the region. But Kerry ,like his European counterparts ,believes that a deal there is the key to solve all the other issues in the ME ;that all the jihadist radicalism stems from Palestine. This is a delusion. For the ambitious Kerry ,this would be the signature achievement of his long political career . So watch out . What he could do with his ramping up expectations is instigate a new wave of Palestinian intifada .

A senior U.S. official told Haaretz that Obama and Kerry urged Netanyahu and Abbas to carry out confidence-building steps to enable the resumption of serious negotiations.

“We believe that there does need to be a positive environment around those talks so that steps do need to build trust and confidence so that both parties feel invested in a process that can work. So that was the message that we conveyed,” the official said.

Obama and Kerry said they would not accept any pre-conditions to talks, such as a settlement freeze, but told Netanyahu that in order for negotiations to succeed, Israel must not do anything to undermine them such as expanding settlements or announcing plans to do so.

Obama stopped short of demanding a settlement freeze, as he did in November 2009, but expects Netanyahu to take “quiet actions” to rein in construction.

Obama returns to Washington, Kerry stays to try and restart Israeli-Palestinian talks - Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper
The president appears willing to let Kerry waste his time on another go at mediation, so long as“he keeps a low profile and doesn't generate a political backlash.”
http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.c...D-C176B79561C5
What we can expect is increased pressure on Israel to make further concessions while demanding few ,or at best cosmetic reciprocal concessions from the Palestinians.
They are also deluded in thinking that Abbas has any influence on Palestinian actions. He is a eunuch occupying an unelected title . He has no legitimacy .

[paraclete]

As ever outside interference doesn't advance the process but gives the illusion of progress.

A wall seem to solve a problem in the West Bank but I don't think you could build one high enough around Gaza. They should establish a Palestinian state in the West Bank and solve the problem of Gaza later. The best thing that could be done for it is to bulldoze it