Yes, the Holocaust was an awful, unprecedentedly tragic human crisis. Yes, its victims deserved retribution. But what about the Palestinians? Historically, the United States has stood behind Israel as they've expanded their borders and made homeless hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. Obama seems to want to change that.
Israeli officials have been pushing for a new Jewish housing project- the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood- in East Jerusalem. The area where construction is planned is already occupied, but according to Israeli law many of the homes have been constructed illegally. For Palestinians, obtaining a building permit is nearly impossible and many ignore the regulations in order to provide their families with a place to live. This means that, technically, (even though most Palestinian families own the land on which their house is built) Israel can force them out of their homes to make way for Jewish settlements. It's basically a really, really terrible form of imminent domain.
After Israel's Prime Minister announced the plan, Obama immediately denounced it and has since been pressing Netanyahu to repeal it. A recent meeting between Obama and Netanyahu ended in an impasse, but both sides pledged to continue talks later. But Israel doesn't appear to be serious about ending the dispute; they began construction this week on another East Jerusalem project.
Hopefully, Obama's support for the Palestinians will be more than empty rhetoric.
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