LA Times Today: Obama Not To Be Trusted, Doesn't Hate Arabs!!
Mark Penn may be gone but his spirit lives on.
A major piece in today's Los Angeles Times reveals that Obama may face political problems because Arab-Americans "consider him receptive despite his clear support of Israel."
This is all part of the continuing effort (especially in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh these days) to paint Obama as something less than a friend of Israel.
This is nothing new.
But this article hits new lows. It produces no evidence whatsoever other than that Obama has had Arab friends, attended Arab dinners, and is believed by Arabs to feel "empathy" toward Palestinians. In other words, Obama is not to be trusted by Jews because some Arabs like him.
Pretty crazy. I used to work for Sen.Carl Levin, a Jew and a strong supporter of Israel, who is a close friend of the Arab community (in part, because he represents more Arab Americans than any other senator). I've seen Carl at Palestinian dinners (last year I saw him at one with Condi Rice). In fact, Joe Lieberman, not exactly an enemy of the State of Israel, has always gone out of his way to keep an open door to Arab-Americans, Palestinians and others.
In other words, this article is utterly bogus. Yes, Obama has empathy for Palestinians, just as he has empathy for Israelis. The man is naturally empathetic which will help repair some of the damage inflicted to our country's image by the current xenophobic administration.
If Arab-Americans and Palestinians trust Obama and think he plays fair, he will have considerably more leverage with them than either of the other two candidates who are not perceived that way. As Congressmen Bob Wexler and Steve Rothman, both Obama supporters, like to say, an American President who can speak to and be heard by Arabs can do a much better job in helping Israel and the Palestinians achieve peace and security than a President who is considered utterly unsympathetic to their concerns.
The LA Times is wrong. It is precisely because Obama is considered fair by Arabs that he can actually help Israel. It's that simple.
PS Those who keep using Jews and Israel as a wedge are doing us no favors. A tiny vulnerable minority, the last thing we need is to be used as a battering ram against any candidate, The tactic is as dangerous as it is ugly and cynical.
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April 10, 2008 12:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
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December 21, 2010 10:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
This is a smart blog. I mean it. You have so much knowledge about this issue, and so much passion. You also know how to make people rally behind it, obviously from the responses. Youve got a design here thats not too flashy, but makes a statement as big as what youre saying. Great job,children health indeed.
January 17, 2011 1:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks, paisan!
April 10, 2008 12:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm a white Anglo-Saxon Protestant male from the South and I agree with your position- therefore, you're a racist, too.
April 10, 2008 1:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wow.
Reading this, I just got a Google ad to "Meet Single Arabs Online" and the lass in the picture is definately not wearing a Burka!!! She is definately something that could bring Jewish and Muslim could agree on.
Gotta love the Google....
April 10, 2008 3:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Of course Obama is a friend of Israel. And he's a friend of the Palestinians. He's a friend of gays, and a friend of bible thumpers. He's a friend of Rev. Wright, and a friend of poor southerners. In fact he appeals to everyone in all ways at all times. It is Hillary that tries to sew the seeds of division, doubt and mistrust. She prowleth about the world seeking the ruin of souls. We must close our eyes and pray to Obama for strength lest we see evil.
April 10, 2008 3:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Amen!
April 10, 2008 4:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Peter Wallsten based a great deal of his LAT article on "research" provided by the notorious anti-Arab anti-Obama Debbie Schussel. She's pissed that he didn't keep his promise to credit her and provides the following:
"By Debbie Schlussel
Recently, I received this e-mail from Los Angeles Times reporter Peter Wallsten, who covers the Obama campaign for the paper, regarding a column I wrote about Barack Hussein Obama:
From: Wallsten, Peter Peter.Wallsten@latimes.com
Date: Tue, Mar 25, 2008 at 3:25 PM
Subject: from Peter Wallsten, reporter for the LA Times
To: writedebbie@gmail.com
Debbie -
I'm looking into Obama's ties to the Nation of Islam and I'm interested in what you've reported already. Is there any chance you'd be willing to take a few minutes to chat on the phone with me?
best,
Peter Wallsten
Los Angeles Times
Washington bureau
[DS: Phone numbers redacted]
barackobama.jpg
Because I am interested in my January column, on which I spent a lot of time and worked very hard, getting wider play--regarding Obama's Nation of Islam staff, his friendship with Palestinian activist Ali Abunimah and Abunimah's assertions that Obama is really, secrety pro-Palestinian, Obama's attendance at an Edward Said dinner, and Obama's blind Jewish supporters--I called Mr. Wallsten, per his request.
I spent a lot of time with him on the phone and told him he could use anything in my column, so long as my name and/or website was mentioned somewhere in the story. He agreed to do so, and told me he appreciated my help, despite the fact that he read on this site that his colleague, L.A. Times terrorism writer Josh Meyer, tried to trick me and rip me off when he came to Detroit and called me (as I mentioned on this site earlier).
Sadly, Mr. Wallsten did not keep his word and ripped me off. Today, he has an extensive article, "Allies of Palestinians See a Friend in Obama," that--while not identical--clearly is an expansion of all of the information he gleaned from my column and some other writers. Again, I'm not saying his "report" is a word-for-word plagiarism of what I wrote. It is not, and using my work as his basis, he did some further interviews. But he clearly and admittedly read my column, and took what I wrote, expanding upon it. And a few portions of it contain virtually identical information with words and phrases mildly altered...."
http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2008/04/ripped_of_by_th.html
Who are the "other writers" that Wallsten relied on for his story on "Obama's ties to the Nation of Islam"?
This guy is covering the Obama campaign for the LAT? I think that if this is true, camp Obama has a legitimate bone to pick with this "reporter".
Ari Berman mentions MJ and Wallsten's smearjob:
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters?bid=45&pid=308475
MJ, perhaps you should send Ari Debbie Schussel's post as it certainly provides more grist for his mill re "Smearing Obama".
Also, look at the "hook" Wallsten uses to land Schussel's cooperation for his article, Obama's supposed "ties" to the Nation of Islam.
April 10, 2008 4:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks, Lally. This is amazing!
April 10, 2008 5:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
lally rocks. Wish Ari gave them credit, tho.
Time to start writing letters to the editor of the L.A. Times, MJ?
April 10, 2008 11:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm Arab and I couldn't agree more with this article. No Arab voters are under any illusions that the Obama campaign is going to mark some remarkable sea change in the U.S.'s stance towards Israel and the Palestinians, in spite of the past support he has received from the Palestinian community in Chicago (FYI, my parents were at the infamous Edward Said dinner where the honored guest infuriated a member of the audience for demanding a secular culture of tolerance amongst Arabs). In fact, I know plenty of Arabs who WON'T vote for him because of his stance on Israel.
That said, many of these same voters identify very strongly with Obama for a number of other reasons, chief among them Obama's vocal criticism of the PATRIOT ACT and the vulnerabilty of Arab and Muslim communities under its auspices. It's true that are some supporters of Israel that see their support as a zero sum game, and that any move that's good for the Arabs cannot possibly be good for Israel. But how this translates into "support for Arab states" is not made at all clear. Moreover, it demands a level of maximalist genuflection for Israel that, as exemplified by this Administration, is counterproductive to being a honest broker for peace.
April 10, 2008 5:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wait... you're saying... that... a person can feel sympathetic to Palestinians and other Muslim people... and not automatically want the complete and total destruction of Israel and all Jews in the world? If only more people would realize this...
As to an unrelated topic, I almost peed myself laughing at the ad I found beneath this article. "Find Single Arabs Online!" indeed.
April 10, 2008 5:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
MJ:
i'm pretty sure that the senators from california represent more arab-americans than the senators from michigan. while michigan has the highest concentration of arab-americans, california seems to have us beat on shear numbers.
April 10, 2008 9:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
or 'sheer' numbers...
April 10, 2008 10:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
inners, and is believed by Arabs to feel "empathy" toward Palestinians. In other word
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or 'sheer' numbers...
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