Israel Matzav

Olbermann claims McCain gave money to Khalidi

Nutroot Keith Olbermann claims on MSNBC tonight that John McCain is connected to Rashid al-Khalidi and gave him more money that Obama and Ayers did. Let's go to the videotape.



Nice try but Olbermann doesn't get it.

The reason everyone wants that tape is to see what Obama said at that dinner, not to see how much money Obama gave Khalidi. McCain wasn't at that dinner. Recall that this is what it was claimed Obama said at that dinner:

“Israel has no God-given right to occupy Palestine” plus there’s been “genocide against the Palestinian people by Israelis.”

That goes way beyond the simple question of whether Obama - who is selling himself as a friend of Israel - gave Khalidi money.

Olbermann presents no proof that McCain was actually in control of any of the money that the group with which Olbermann claims McCain was associated gave Khalidi. On the other hand, the moneys given by the Woods Foundation to Khalidi - the board of which was chaired by Obama - are well documented. The moneys McCain supposedly gave Khalidi don't sound any different than the money that the US government (unfortunately) gives the 'Palestinians' and were given at a time when the PLO was (mistakenly) no longer a designated terrorist organization under US law.

I agree that the McCain campaign made a mistake by not pursuing this earlier. But I believe they also made a mistake by not making Reverend Wright an issue in the campaign. I look at Olbermann's entire comment as a sign that the Obama camp is panicking.

And that's a good thing.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:55 AM