Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Obama, Khalidi, and O'Reilly

Contrairimairi forwarded a Charles Lemos By the Fault article. In the Youtube video featured on Lemos's site, Obama denies any special connection to Khalidi.



Lemos notes that Obama failed to mention that Rashid Khalidi, Palestinian anti-Semite,

-hosted a fundraiser for Obama when he ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2000, or that
-Obama attended a testimonial dinner for Khalidi and praised him when Khalidi left Chicago to chair Columbia’s Middle Eastern Studies Department, or that
-while Obama served on the Board of the Woods Fund, the board voted to grant $40,000.00 to the Arab American Network, an organization headed by Khalidi’s wife, Mona Khalidi.


The Woods Fund is also the focus of Obama's relationship with William Ayers.

At a dinner celebrating Palestinian culture the LA Times reported in April 2008 that:

"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.

"His many talks with the Khalidis, Obama said, had been “consistent reminders to me of my own blind spots and my own biases. . . . It’s for that reason that I’m hoping that, for many years to come, we continue that conversation — a conversation that is necessary not just around Mona and Rashid’s dinner table,” but around “this entire world.”

Yet, the major news outlets are willing to accept Obama's claim that he hardly knew Khalidi. This is more than journalistic incompetence. Listening for about sixty seconds to O'Reilly tonight I heard O'Reilly speak of Obama's "presidential statesmanship." But O'Reilly has refused to discuss Obama's pathological lying or to question him about it when Obama appeared on his program. The mass media, from ABC to Fox, from O'Reilly to Lou Dobbs, has been a hall of mirrors.

Contrairimairis adds:

"These were BO's words back in May, when his affiliations with Rashid Khalidi came under closer scrutiny. My question is........WHERE are the "900" other friends? Why do we not have someone from the "hood" just coming forward to say......"Wow, I know Barack, what a great guy! I think you can really trust him. His kids and my kids used to play together...I think Barack has ALWAYS maintained a very 'clandestine' life because he has NEVER viewed America the way 'Americans' view America. His 'friends' all seem to think there is something seriously wrong with this Country, that needs to be RADICALLY fixed...

"You see, I truly believe that once the crown is on his head, all those waiting under the bus will be greeted with open arms at the WH. And probably with TONS of praise and thanks for their understanding that the prize had to be first obtained, and THEN the associations could resume at full speed. We may even start to see those questionable 'disbursements' begin once again.

"This is just so frightening, that so many Americans are willing to be duped...Seriously, it's not like there was a single person who hated America.....let's say Billy Boy, and another who said we should be against nuclear energy, and maybe another who thought we should be sharing technology with oh,....maybe Australia. That is not what these associations are, or show. They are all America hating, Jew/Israel hating..."

Mairi is right, of course. But this is not the first time "progressive" Jews have preferred the pride of political correctness and fashion over concern for palpable, potentially murderous anti-Semitism. In the 1930s, for example, New York's "progressive" Jewish community was passive during the lead up to the Holocaust, and their passivity was encouraged by the Ochs Sulzbergers, owners of the New York Times, who buried the Holocaust story in the remote inner pages of their newspaper. Today, "progressives" prefer to be cool, to side with fashion and to call Sarah Palin anti-Semitic because she once attended a meeting where a Jewish convert to Christianity spoke. Meanwhile, their favored candidate openly associates with an activist who aggressively supports those who murder Jews.

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