« Lesson of the day | Main | Yes, You are Judged by the Company You Keep »

Obama - where do you really stand?

I thought I would share some excerpts from an article - feel free to read the whole thing (link is in the extended entry):

"I first met Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama almost ten years ago when, as my representative in the Illinois state senate, he came to speak at the University of Chicago. He impressed me as progressive, intelligent and charismatic. I distinctly remember thinking 'if only a man of this calibre could become president one day.'

...

On Friday Obama gave a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in Chicago. It had been much anticipated in American Jewish political circles which buzzed about his intensive efforts to woo wealthy pro-Israel campaign donors who up to now have generally leaned towards his main rival Senator Hillary Clinton.

...

Obama offered not a single word of criticism of Israel, of its relentless settlement and wall construction, of the closures that make life unlivable for millions of Palestinians.

...

As he [Obama] came in from the cold and took off his coat, I [a pro-Hamas editorial writer] went up to greet him. He responded warmly, and volunteered, 'Hey, I'm sorry I haven't said more about Palestine right now, but we are in a tough primary race. I'm hoping when things calm down I can be more up front.' He referred to my activism, including columns I was contributing to the The Chicago Tribune critical of Israeli and US policy, 'Keep up the good work!'

...

If disappointing, given his historically close relations to Palestinian-Americans, Obama's about-face is not surprising. He is merely doing what he thinks is necessary to get elected and he will continue doing it as long as it keeps him in power. Palestinian-Americans are in the same position as civil libertarians who watched with dismay as Obama voted to reauthorize the USA Patriot Act, or immigrant rights advocates who were horrified as he voted in favor of a Republican bill to authorize the construction of a 700-mile fence on the border with Mexico" (Emphasis has been added).

Author: Ali Abunimah is the co-founder of The Electronic Intifada and author of One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse.

This article was written by a pro-Hamas editorial writer on March 7, 2007 - not that long ago... It makes you wonder - whose side is Obama truly on? And if you truly think he's pro-Israel, just how fast of an about-face is considered to be a little too shady for you?

Here's the link to the full article, How Barack Obama learned to love Israel.

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.drissman.com/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/drissman/mt/mt-tb.cgi/821

Comments

Good job. By the way, the 2 events (the AIPAC speech and the "coming in from the cold") were at separate times, in fact, 1 year apart. Not that it changes the import, but it is important to keep the chronology straight

I do not know whether it's just me or if everyone else
encountering issues with your site. It appears like some of the text within your content are running off the screen. Can somebody else please provide feedback and let me know if
this is happening to them as well? This may be a issue with my internet browser because I've had this
happen previously. Kudos

Post a comment