Chicago, IL – It was a celebration of Palestinian culture in 2003 — a night of music, dancing and a dash of politics. Local Arab Americans were bidding farewell to Rashid Khalidi, an internationally known scholar, critic of Israel and advocate for Palestinian rights, who was leaving town for a job in New York.
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A special tribute came from Khalidi’s friend and frequent dinner companion, the young state Sen. Barack Obama. Speaking to the crowd, Obama reminisced about meals prepared by Khalidi’s wife, Mona, and conversations that had challenged his thinking.
Today, five years later, Obama is a U.S. senator from Illinois who expresses a firmly pro-Israel view of Middle East politics, pleasing many of the Jewish leaders and advocates for Israel whom he is courting in his presidential campaign. The dinner conversations he had envisioned with his Palestinian American friend have ended. He and Khalidi have seen each other only fleetingly in recent years.
And yet the warm embrace Obama gave to Khalidi, and words like those at the professor’s going-away party, have left some Palestinian American leaders believing that Obama is more receptive to their viewpoint than he is willing to say.
Their belief is not drawn from Obama’s speeches or campaign literature, but from comments that some say Obama made in private and from his association with the Palestinian American community in his hometown of Chicago, including his presence at events where anger at Israeli and U.S. Middle East policy was freely expressed.
At Khalidi’s 2003 farewell party, for example, One speaker likened “Zionist settlers on the West Bank” to Osama bin Laden, saying both had been “blinded by ideology.”
“I am confident that Barack Obama is more sympathetic to the position of ending the occupation than either of the other candidates,” said Hussein Ibish, a senior fellow for the American Task Force on Palestine.
read extended article [LA Times]
Sadly, this whole LA Times article is ripped off from my January column on Obama. The LA Times reporter, Peter Wallsten, contacted me, asking if he could use parts of my article, and I said yes, so long as he gave me credit. Instead, he ripped off parts that were word for word. Here are his e-mails, followed by my original column: http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2008/04/ripped_of_by_th.html
Original info on Obama:
http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2008/01/obamas_nation_o.html
McCain is No bargain- especially if he picks Condi Rice as a running mate. That said, however If a Jew were to vote for Obama against McCain in the General Election he /she needs mental help from a professional.
McCAIN ALL THE WAY
He’s always been good to the jews ,
The real question is which Democrat nominated will best LOSE to McCain. That’s the one to back
Is it mutar for a Jew to say the pledge of allegiance to the US flag? We owe allegiance to H’K’B’H only!
And if you are going to publicize Obama’s five year old embrace of someone I’ve never heard of, are you going to publicize McCain’s barely five week old embrace of James Baker? Has Obama even spoken with Khalidi in the past five years? Khalidi will not have any position in any administration; Baker has been a part of every Republican administration since that of Gerald Ford! I’d be a lot more worried about the influence of Baker than of Khalidi.
Did he try selling our ports to the Arabs?
Oh wait………It was our “good” friend Bush
This guy is a Bull-S.. artist.A fake that noone can believe in.People are being really naive.ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS AND HE WONT WEAR AN AMERICAN PIN NOR RAISE HIS HAND FOR THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE????/?COME ON PEOPLE!!!!
Razbbosaiwe must all be very careful – obama is NOT a friend of the yiddin or eretz hakoidesh!remember the mishna in pirkei avos – al tisvada lirishus….
This Obama is very dangerous,he lives in two different worlds,he will cover himself from one day to another on the things that he said.