Obama appeals to Israelis: Give justice to the Palestinians
President Barack Obama on Thursday urged the Israeli people to put themselves in the shoes of Palestinians and recognize their "right to self-determination, their right to justice."
In
a televised speech at the Jerusalem Convention Center, Obama said there should be "two states for two peoples."
Breaking off from his prepared text, he said that he recently met with a group of young Palestinians.
"Talking to them, they weren’t that different from my daughters, they weren’t that different from your daughters or sons," he said.
"I honestly believe that if any Israeli parent sat down with these kids, they’d say, 'I want these kids to succeed, I want them to prosper, I want them to have opportunities just like my kids do,'" he added to applause.
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President Barack Obama tried Thursday to invigorate the stalled Middle East peace process, urging young Israelis to pressure their leaders to seek peace with Palestinians while acknowledging the Jewish state's historical right to exist and defend itself from continuing threats.
In a speech in Jerusalem that Obama had said would lay out his vision for the region, the president urged Israelis to look at the world through the eyes of Palestinians but also said enemies of Israel must change their rhetoric and tactics to reflect modern reality.
"You are not alone," Obama said in both English and Hebrew, prompting a standing ovation when he declared that "those who adhere to the ideology of rejecting Israel's right to exist might as well reject the Earth beneath them and the sky above, because Israel is not going anywhere."
Hours before the speech on the second day of a Middle East swing, two rockets fired from Palestinian-controlled Gaza landed in southern Israel.
