Obama compares young Palestinians to his own daughters, who would once have been denied same opportunities as others in their own country
— Jonathan Freedland (@Freedland) March 21, 2013
President Obama and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas held a joint news conference in Ramallah Thursday and brought up the American civil rights movement.
‘Whenever I meet these young people, whether they’re Israeli or Palestinian, I think of my young daughters,’ he said during a joint press conference with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
‘Those of us in the United States understand that change takes time, but change is possible. There was a time when my daughters did not have the same opportunities as somebody else’s daughters.’
"Change takes time but it is also possible," Obama in Ramallah, drawing contrast to civil rights movement in the U.S.
— Lynn Sweet (@lynnsweet) March 21, 2013
Obama tells Palestinians in #Ramallah there was time in U.S. when his daughters wouldnt have had rights – says Kerry will push peace talks
— Andrea Mitchell (@mitchellreports) March 21, 2013
https://twitter.com/HuffPeter/status/314706913587761153
http://twitter.com/jaycaruso/statuses/314705361888227329
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What? RT @JohnJHarwood: Obama invokes US civil rights revolution in discussing Palestinian aspirations
— Sunny McSunnyface (@sunnyright) March 21, 2013
So, you guys are saying the American civil rights movement wasn’t shooting for something like this?
'Palestinians Deserve State Of Their Own'… http://t.co/3iBdXahJGL
— NEWS MAKER (@NEWS_MAKER) March 21, 2013
While it appears Obama was trying to use the civil rights struggle to convey that change doesn’t happen overnight, the analogy was clumsy at best. And — shocker! — Palestinians may not hear it that way.
Obama's comment re daughters echoes Palestinians' invoking of civil rights legacy in relation to the conflict
— Jodi Rudoren (@rudoren) March 21, 2013
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