What Was That About Supporting the President and Listening to the Generals?

I read this post from Glenn Greenwald over at Salon this morning, and I found myself nodding my head in agreement so often that if anyone had been watching me he would have assumed that I was listening to music.

There is no question that the very people who were quick to question the patriotism of those critical of former President Bush are gleefully criticizing President Obama (and a couple of formerly important Generals), particularly on his administration's dealings with Israel. Mind you, I am all for criticism, but don't be hypocritical about it. It has become quite clear that, for some, anything that Bush did regarding Israeli policy demanded our lockstep agreement with Bush, and anything that Obama is doing demands our lockstep agreement with the right wing of the Israeli political class.

Greenwald provides a great dissection of the hypocrisy on this issue, and I would encourage everyone who sees this post to hit that link at the top. But I also want to add something. Neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians are completely innocent here, and I think too many of us forget that simple fact. People willing to bomb innocent folks to convey their point of view should be condemned, period. But I also think that this blatant push to take over sections of Jerusalem where Palestinians live, at the expense of a potential settlement of this long standing conflict, is destructive in a different way.

I am far from an expert in these matters, but I cannot help but think of our history with various Native American communities, when I think about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Clearly, we have settled our differences, but man were those some brutal times before that happened. Peace in the Holy Land is possible, but both parties have to be willing to make concessions in order to achieve it. What neither group needs are American harpies trying to undermine the effort the Obama administration is trying to put forth to achieve the greater goal. And it seems that a majority of Israelis might agree.