Time & Perspective Quote by Jane Harman

The clunkiness is the point. Jane Harman is doing the careful choreography of U.S. political language on Israel-Palestine: condemn violence first, do it unmistakably, and do it in a way that signals reliability to multiple audiences who are primed to hear omission as endorsement. The phrase "at the same time" functions like a hinge. It tells you there is another clause coming - usually a call for restraint, humanitarian concern, or criticism of Israeli policy - but it pre-pays the rhetorical cost by establishing moral positioning up front.

The wording also gives away the constraints. "Clearly condemn" is an insistence, not a description: a pledge to stay inside the boundaries of acceptable discourse, especially in a political environment where elected officials are routinely tested for "balance" and punished for nuance. "Actions of violence" narrows the target to tactics rather than causes, pushing the conversation toward security and away from occupation, rights, or history. Even the odd "groups in Palestinian" (likely meant as "Palestinian groups") is telling: it avoids naming specific actors (Hamas, Islamic Jihad) and skirts the more explosive question of whether violence is being framed as a movement, a population, or a government.

Contextually, this is the language of a politician managing consequence: donor scrutiny, constituent pressure, ally reassurance, and the expectation that sympathy must be rationed and sequenced. The subtext is transactional: I will say the required condemnation so I can say what I actually need to say next.