It has come to this--the red baiting and the nastiness of the McCain/Palin campaign, in desperation to get Jewish support, is now baiting and bad-mouthing a notable Palestinian-American historian, Rashid Khalidi, for his and his wife's friendship with Obama. The Khalidi's know Obama from their time in Hyde Park, when Rashid was a professor at the University of Chicago.

Now at Columbia University, he is someone who has always reached out to all sides in the debate about the future of Israel and Palestine. He has been outspoken in his arguments against Arafat's ways of governing and terrorism and when he was at U of C, he was close to Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg, one of the most important American Jewish figures of our time. For the Republicans to go after him is purely vile--they think that the Jewish vote is so stupid and racist that they will turn away from the Democrats solely on this type of slander. For someone like Daniel Pipes, quoted in today's New York Times story, to call him 'marginal,' is a joke, since Pipes is himself, so marginal regarding his own political point of view. One may not agree with Rashid Khalidi, but he is a respected and honored historian. It's time to move the Center back to the Center--let's hope that happens as of November 5--for the sake of America, the sake of Israel and the sake of Palestine.

Americans for Peace Now, an organization for which I am proud to serve as an officer, just sent out this press release:

APN Condemns Attacks on Rashid Khalidi

Washington, D.C. - Americans for Peace Now (APN) abhors and rejects the current character assassination efforts aimed at Columbia University professor Rashid Khalidi.

Dr. Khalidi is a respected scholar, author and educator. Contrary to the allegations contained in these attacks, Dr. Khalidi is a longtime public supporter of Israeli-Palestinian peace and the two-state solution, and an opponent of violence and terror. His analysis has helped the world better understand the Palestinian historical and political narrative - understanding that is a requirement for the achievement of Israeli-Arab peace - and has underscored both the challenges and the opportunities that exist for advancing a peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Last month APN called on both candidates and campaigns to keep Israel and the peace process out of any partisan rhetoric in the race for the White House. We noted that "during U.S. elections there are often people both inside and outside the presidential campaigns who want to play politics with the issue - using Israel to score political points for themselves or against their opponent." We warned that doing so represented "a cynical tactic that comes at the expense of the best interests of both the U.S. and Israel."

This latest smear campaign against Professor Khalidi is exactly the kind of tactic we warned against.

APN is a non-partisan, Jewish, Zionist organization dedicated to enhancing Israel's security through peace and to supporting the Israeli Peace Now movement."