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February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
May 13, 2008
/ 8 Iyar 5768
For pro-Israel voters, Obama's middle name should be the least of their concerns
By
Jonathan Mark
Pro-Hamas advisor may be gone, but senator has more radical backers press is ignoring
JewishWorldReview.com |
Recent weeks have seen a considerable amount of coverage focusing on whether Sen. Barack Obama has too many friends with an anti-American bias, notably his longtime pastor, Jeremiah Wright, whom Obama has finally renounced, and William Ayers, a Chicago professor who was a 1960s radical with the Weathermen terrorist group, a friendship Obama dismissed as casual.
But if Wright and Ayers have been thoroughly explored in primary debates and interviews, Obama's other relationships with radicals have been relatively unexplored.
For example, the Los Angeles Times devoted a lengthy front-page story (April 10) by Peter Wallsten headlined, "Allies of Palestinians see a friend in Barack Obama. They consider him receptive despite his clear support of Israel." The story was not picked up by any other American paper. It is rather unusual for a major daily to think a story worthy of front-page coverage and no other paper to share that assessment.
The story focused on Obama's time as an Illinois state legislator, just five years ago, when he was friends, if not allied, with Rashid Khalidi, the vocal anti-Zionist professor at Columbia University who at the time was living in Obama's Chicago district; Edward Said, the late anti-Zionist professor and member of the Palestinian Authority legislature; and Ali Abunimah, a resident of Obama's district and editor of the Electronic Intifada online journal.
At a farewell party for Khalidi, Obama is quoted as saying that his conversations with Khalidi had been "consistent reminders to me of my own blind spots and my own biases."
Wallsten writes, the Obama-Khalidi relationship "have left some Palestinian American leaders believing that Obama is more receptive to their viewpoint than he is willing to say."
They base that belief on his presence at "events where anger at Israeli and U.S. Middle East policy was freely expressed," not unlike those who wonder about Obama's truest self after his relationship with Wright and his anger.
"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, to Wallsten.
The foreign minister of Hamas has recently endorsed Obama for president, another story that has sunk like a stone, barely reported other than by Fox and a popular right-wing website, even though Sen. John McCain brought it up on the campaign trail.
In 1998, reports Wallsten, Obama attended a speech by Edward Said in which Said called for a nonviolent campaign "against settlements, against Israeli apartheid." Later, Obama and his wife were photographed at dinner with Said. "If only Obama could burn this picture," writes Al Ahram, but the Cairo paper printed the picture anyway.
Abraham Foxman, national director for the Anti-Defamation League, told the Los Angeles Times, "In the context of [Obama] spending 20 years in a church" where anti-Israel rhetoric was repeated, "that's what makes his presence at an Arab-American event with a Said a greater concern."
Wallsten reports that Abunimah of Electronic Intifada said he heard Obama call for an "even-handed approach" toward Israel. In 2004, when Obama was running for the Senate, Abunimah quoted Obama as saying that he was sorry he wasn't talking more about the Palestinian cause, but that his primary campaign had constrained what he could say. (Obama told Jewish leaders in Cleveland recently that a pro-Israel position is not necessarily a pro-Likud one.)
And yet Wallsten's story of Obama's Palestinian-American support, while burning up the blogosphere from the Huffington Post to The Nation to Zionist sites, received almost no coverage beyond that. It was reprinted on a Fox TV Web site in Seattle and was mentioned in the Jordan Times.
Obama has not been asked about it in the debates, and in meetings with Jewish communities in Cleveland and Philadelphia, where he has been asked repeatedly about Wright's relationship with Louis Farrakhan but not about his own relationship with Electronic Intifada.
(Obama's Palestinian-American friendships have been reported in The Jewish Week on several occasions, the first time in 2007.)
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in Washington and in the media consider "must reading." Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Jonathan Mark is Associate Editor of the New York Jewish Week. Comment by clicking here.
© 2008, NY Jewish Week
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