Obama plays the race card against Israel
President Obama gave his first interview to Israeli television on Wednesday - it went to Yonit Levy of Channel 2. This is from Channel 2's broadcast on Thursday night - for those who don't speak Hebrew, the interview is in English and the key headline is in the part of the interview that's on this video (I have not yet been able to find the full interview - I'm sure it will be up eventually).Let's go to the videotape.
As you might imagine, that comment about "because my middle name is Hussein" has made some headlines here (Hat Tip: Memeorandum).
During the interview Wednesday, when confronted with the anxiety that some Israelis feel toward him, Obama said that "some of it may just be the fact that my middle name is Hussein, and that creates suspicion."Actually, the old salt here goes "my enemy's enemy is my friend."
"Ironically, I've got a Chief of Staff named Rahm Israel Emmanuel. My top political advisor is somebody who is a descendent of Holocaust survivors. My closeness to the Jewish American community was probably what propelled me to the U.S. Senate," Obama said.
"I think that sometimes, particularly in the Middle East, there's the feeling of the friend of my enemy must be my enemy, and the truth of the matter is that my outreach to the Muslim community is designed precisely to reduce the antagonism and the dangers posed by a hostile Muslim world to Israel and to the West," Obama went on to say.
But Israelis' antipathy for Obama - which is pretty much across the board for Israeli Jews - has nothing to do with his middle name. It has to do with his (in)actions over Iran, which cannot help but create the impression that he wants Iran to become a nuclear power. It has to do with his raising issues - and expectations on the 'Palestinian' side - that Israelis felt had long since been put to bed, like Jewish neighborhoods that are over the armistice line in Jerusalem and the 'settlement blocs.' And it has to do with his associations with the likes of Rashid Khalidi, Samantha Power, Zbigniew Brzezinski, and many others, whose reputations as enemies of Israel were earned long before Obama even arrived in the Senate.
No, Israelis aren't racist. We're rational.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:14 AM
5 Comments:
Indeed.
Obama has proven the insincerity of his words and its going to take a lot more than eloquent speeches to change Israelis minds about him.
Its the deeds, stupid!
Shame on him.
It is racist to impute racist motivations upon someone else. Why not say " there just typical Jewish people"
Of cooooourse, it has nothing to do with the godling's shabby treatment of the Israeli prime minister, or The Petulant One's insistance that Israel apologize to Turkey over the flotilla “incident.” Oooor the fact that Obambi presents himself in a submissive manner to the worst despots of the Middle East. Nah, it's none of those things.
Nothing Obama does is wrong. He is the the messiah, afterall. It's the Jooooooz' fault that they don't trust him. Everyone knows it's always the Jooooooz' fault.
Shavua Tov, Carl.
Not his middle name per se--more the fact that he's living up to it.
Back in Nov. 2008, I was wary, but I reasoned to myself he'd probably be occupied with domestic matters. I'd never thought he'd be good for Israel, but I'd hoped it wouldn't show much. I was proved wrong, and then I turned from just being wary to hating him with the same passion I hate all committed anti-Zionists.
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