"On the other hand..." - WTF ?!?

Barack Hussein Obama gave a speech to what is being called the "Muslim world'. (As if one could imagine the secularist media or liberals referencing a "Chrisitian" or "Jewish" world.)

I am late coming to the party of dissecting the speech; and frankly the damn thing is too long to even try. But this jumped out at me:

America's strong bonds with Israel are well known. This bond is unbreakable. It is based upon cultural and historical ties, and the recognition that the aspiration for a Jewish homeland is rooted in a tragic history that cannot be denied.

Around the world, the Jewish people were persecuted for centuries, and anti-Semitism in Europe culminated in an unprecedented Holocaust. Tomorrow, I will visit Buchenwald, which was part of a network of camps where Jews were enslaved, tortured, shot and gassed to death by the Third Reich. Six million Jews were killed – more than the entire Jewish population of Israel today. Denying that fact is baseless, ignorant, and hateful. Threatening Israel with destruction – or repeating vile stereotypes about Jews – is deeply wrong, and only serves to evoke in the minds of Israelis this most painful of memories while preventing the peace that the people of this region deserve.

On the other hand, it is also undeniable that the Palestinian people – Muslims and Christians – have suffered in pursuit of a homeland. For more than sixty years they have endured the pain of dislocation. Many wait in refugee camps in the West Bank, Gaza, and neighboring lands for a life of peace and security that they have never been able to lead. They endure the daily humiliations – large and small – that come with occupation. So let there be no doubt: the situation for the Palestinian people is intolerable. America will not turn our backs on the legitimate Palestinian aspiration for dignity, opportunity, and a state of their own. [emphasis mine]

"On the other hand..."?!? He wants to compare the horrors of the Holocaust with the Palestinian problems.

Look, life in Gaza or the West Bank will never be confused with a day at the beach. But most of the problems encountered by the Palestinians are self-created as they steadfastly refuse to even acknowledge Israel's right to exist. To compare that situation to a ruthlessly methodical attempt to eliminate an ethnic group is an outrage. It is moral equivalency run amok.