Obama and Palestinian suffering

There seems to be something of a tiff, at least in some corners, over Obama's remark earlier this week that in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, "Nobody is suffering more than the Palesitnian people." The comment was first reported in the Des Moines Register.

Now, when the Israel-crazies come out criticizing this, let's get clear what they're criticizing. It could be a narrow critique saying that the statement serves to minimize Israeli suffering, etc. But even when it's framed that way, it's important to look at the history to see what the Israel-crazies really do not accept -- and that's any compassion at all for Palestinians.

That's why, at the big pro-Israel demo in DC in April 2002, the crowd booed when Paul Wolfowitz said that "Palestinians are suffering and dying as well. It is critical that we recognize and acknowledge that fact."

And that's part of why the U.S. Congress -- so defferent to the Israeli-crazies -- doesn't pass resolutions expressing sympathy for mass Palestinian casualties.

But back to what Obama said. It's good that he said it, and it could, perhaps, provoke productive discussion. I want to see people examine the statement for its merits -- if folks are going to criticize it, I'd like to see them lay out the case that, in fact, some people other than the Palestinians are suffering the most in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.