Former President Barack Obama told his former colleagues that “to some extent, we are all complicit” in the ongoing violence in Gaza and the terrorist activities conducted by Hamas.
Obama appeared to establish a moral analogy between the “occupation” of Gaza by Israel and the assassination of Israelis by Hamas during his Saturday Pod Save America event.
Gaza was last “occupied” by Israel in 2015, when all Israeli soldiers and civilians withdrew as part of a “disengagement” intended to reduce regional violence.
However, Hamas retaliated by launching hundreds of missiles at Israel, sparking numerous conflicts.
That’s what Obama stated: (Video segment below)
“If there’s any chance of us being able to act constructively, to do something, 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 [sic] and what’s happening to Palestinians is unbearable.”
“And what is also true is that 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, right — I mean, we can go on for a while.”
“And the problem with the social media, and trying to — TikTok activism, and trying to debate this, on that, is 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. And so if you want to solve the problem, 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. I look at this, and I think back, “What could I have done during my presidency to move this forward — as hard as I tried, and I’ve got the scars to prove it.”
“But there’s a part of me that’s still saying, well, “Was there something else I could have done?” That’s the conversation we should be having.”
“Not just looking backward, but looking forward. And that can’t happen if we are confining ourselves to our outrage.”
“I would rather see you out there talking to people, including people who you disagree with.”
‘If you genuinely want to change thin, then you’ve got to figure out how to speak to somebody on the other side, and listen to them, and understand what they are talking about, and not dismiss it. Because you can’t save that child without their help. Not in this situation.”
You don’t have to take my word for it, but maybe you’ll listen to Obama.
“If you want to solve the problem, you have to take in the whole truth, and you have to admit that nobody’s hands are clean.”
— Angry Staffer 🌻 (@Angry_Staffer) November 4, 2023
The approach taken by Obama is in line with his stance on the Middle East throughout his presidency. An erroneous moral differentiation is established by him between the deliberate and exceedingly violent slaughter of 1,400 Israelis and the “occupation” of the West Bank, the latter of which exists solely due to the Palestinian Authority’s refusal to engage in peace negotiations with Israel. In Gaza, the occupation does not exist.
By embracing a postmodern standpoint that posits the existence of multiple realities as opposed to a singular reality, he downplays the heinous nature of Hamas’s genocidal terror to a single viewpoint among many.
As Breitbart noted: Obama’s reaction to the terror attacks was similar to 2015, when he reacted to the violence of the so-called “Islamic State,” which had published a video of a Jordanian pilot being burned alive inside a cage, by arguing that medieval Christians had been just as violent during the Crusades.
Obama’s indifference enabled ISIS to evolve into a malevolent and autocratic terrorist organization.
Obama was criticized on X last week following the publication of a letter advising Israel to proceed with caution in their ongoing conflict with Hamas.
The letter commenced by professing solidarity with Israel, but swiftly reverted to advising against its proposed self-defense strategies.
Obama stated in a statement earlier this month:
“As I stated in an earlier post, Israel has a right to defend its citizens against such wanton violence, and I fully support President Biden’s call for the United States to support our long-time ally in going after Hamas, dismantling its military capabilities, and facilitating the safe return of hundreds of hostages to their families.”
“But even as we support Israel, we should also be clear that how Israel prosecutes this fight against Hamas matters,” Obama said.
“Still, the world is watching closely as events in the region unfold, and any Israeli military strategy that ignores the human costs could ultimately backfire.”