Obama s Lesson for Rashida Tlaib – WSJ

Poor Rashida Tlaib. If only she had Barack Obama s ability to couch the argument for moral equivalence between Israel and Hamas in terms acceptable to polite society.

Because she doesn t, the Michigan Democrat was censured last Tuesday by the House for her comments following the Hamas barbarities of Oct. 7. In the end, 22 of her fellow Democrats voted alongside most Republicans for censure. But in her statement in response, Ms. Tlaib the sole Palestinian-American in Congress remained unapologetic.

Many of them, she said of her colleagues, have shown me that Palestinian lives simply do not matter to them, but I still do not police their rhetoric or actions. This from a congresswoman who posted a video on social media accusing Joe Biden of supporting the genocide of the Palestinian people.

Then there s the Obama approach. At about the same time Ms. Tlaib was drawing condemnation even from Democrats, the Pod Save America podcast released a clip from an interview. In it Mr. Obama also made a case for moral equivalence. But he went about it in an underhanded manner that is more damaging to Democratic unity and support for Mr. Biden s policy than anything Ms. Tlaib could do.

It s all wrapped in his call for an admission of complexity. The 44th president did declare that what Hamas did on Oct. 7 was horrific and unjustified. But complexity means it s also true the occupation was unbearable for Palestinians and that nobody s hands are clean.

Get it? To look at the atrocities of Oct. 7 and conclude that Israel has the right to ensure that Hamas can never again pull off such an attack lacks nuance. Mr. Obama didn t criticize Mr. Biden by name or say Hamas and Israel are morally equivalent. Then again, he didn t have to. Everyone understood it for what it was: a jab at the Biden administration s support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he takes on Hamas.

via www.wsj.com

William McGurn.