Another Obama association for you to ignore/downplay

**busyLivin** · 10-29-2008, 10:55 AM

LA Times Refuses to Release Tape of Obama Praising Controversial Activist - FOXNews.com Elections

The Los Angeles Times is refusing to release a videotape that it says shows Barack Obama praising a Chicago professor who was an alleged mouthpiece for the Palestine Liberation Organization while it was a designated terrorist group in the 1970s and '80s.

According an LA Times article written by Peter Wallsten in April, Obama was a "friend and frequent dinner companion" of Rashid Khalidi, who from 1976 to1982 was reportedly a director of the official Palestinian press agency, WAFA, which was operating in exile from Beirut with the PLO.

In the article -- based on the videotape obtained by the Times -- Wallsten said Obama addressed an audience during a 2003 farewell dinner for Khalidi, who was Obama's colleague at the University of Chicago, before his departure for Columbia University in New York. Obama said his many talks with Khalidi and his wife Mona stood as "consistent reminders to me of my own blind spots and my own biases."

Click here to read the original LA Times story: 'Palestinians See a Friend in Barack Obama.'

On Wednesday, John McCain's campaign accused the newspaper of deliberately suppressing information that could establish the link between the Democratic presidential candidate and the former PLO spokesman.

"Khalidi was a frequent dinner guest at the Obama's home and at his farewell dinner in 2003 Obama joined the unrepentant terrorist William Ayers in giving testimonials on Khalidi's role in the community," McCain spokesman Michael Goldfarb said in a written statement. "The election is one week away, and it's unfortunate that the press so obviously favors Barack Obama that this campaign must publicly request that the Los Angeles Times do its job -- make information public."

Khalidi is currently the Edward Said professor of Arab Studies at Columbia. A pro-Palestinian activist, he has been a fierce critic of American foreign policy and of Israel, which he has accused of establishing an "apartheid system" of government. The PLO advocate helped facilitate negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians in the early '90s, but he has denied he was ever an employee of the group, contradicting accounts in the New York Times and Washington Times.

The LA Times told FOXNews.com that it won't reveal how it obtained the tape of Khalidi's farewell party, nor will the newspaper release it. Spokeswoman Nancy Sullivan said the paper is not interested in revisiting the story. "As far as we're concerned, the story speaks for itself," she said.

The newspaper reported Tuesday evening in a story on its Web site that the tape was from a confidential source.

"The Los Angeles Times did not publish the videotape because it was provided to us by a confidential source who did so on the condition that we not release it," the Times' editor, Russ Stanton, said. "The Times keeps its promises to sources."

In recent months Obama has distanced himself from the man the Times says he once called a friend. "He is not one of my advisers. He's not one of my foreign policy people," Obama said at a campaign event in May. "He is a respected scholar, although he vehemently disagrees with a lot of Israel's policy."

But on the tape, according to the Times, Obama said in his toast that he hoped his relationship with Khalidi would continue even after the professor left Chicago. "It's for that reason that I'm hoping that, for many years to come, we continue that conversation -- a conversation that is necessary not just around Mona and Rashid's dinner table ... [but around] this entire world."

A number of Web sites have accused the Times of purposely suppressing the tape of the event -- which former Weather Underground terrorists Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn reportedly attended.

Sullivan said she would not give details of what else may be on the tape, adding that anyone interested in the video should read the newspaper's report, which was its final account.

"This is a story that we reported on six months ago, so any suggestion that we're suppressing the tape is absurd -- we're the ones that brought the existence of the tape to light," Sullivan said.

The Los Angeles Times endorsed Obama for president on October 19.

**Big Smoothy** · 10-29-2008, 12:22 PM

Uhm....don't you think this would have been brought to light by now??

My point: these silly attacks come in the last week before an election, because there is no time to respond to them.

And by the way, the PLO was just the same as the Israeli MOSSAD, imo.

Are you a little biased?

F*ck Zionism and Israel.

**mcguin** · 10-29-2008, 01:33 PM

Originally Posted by Big Smoothy

Uhm....don't you think this would have been brought to light by now??

My point: these silly attacks come in the last week before an election, because there is no time to respond to them.

And by the way, the PLO was just the same as the Israeli MOSSAD, imo.

Are you a little biased?

F*ck Zionism and Israel.

are you shitting me?

**maniclion** · 10-29-2008, 01:39 PM

Originally Posted by Big Smoothy

Uhm....don't you think this would have been brought to light by now??

My point: these silly attacks come in the last week before an election, because there is no time to respond to them.

And by the way, the PLO was just the same as the Israeli MOSSAD, imo.

Are you a little biased?

F*ck Zionism and Israel.

Yeah this is only relevant in the minds of those who only see one side of the battle. Israel and the Palestinian's are both as guilty as the other for terrorist attacks....if you think the Israeli's are any better than their Arab enemy you need to watch some documentaries that show Israeli soldiers blindly lobbing rounds into Palestinian slums without regard for if it's full of children or what....just because they are better equipped and organized doesn't make them innocent....

**busyLivin** · 10-29-2008, 01:51 PM

Originally Posted by maniclion

Yeah this is only relevant in the minds of those who only see one side of the battle. Israel and the Palestinian's are both as guilty as the other for terrorist attacks....if you think the Israeli's are any better than their Arab enemy you need to watch some documentaries that show Israeli soldiers blindly lobbing rounds into Palestinian slums without regard for if it's full of children or what....just because they are better equipped and organized doesn't make them innocent....

Yeah, it's not important or relevant that Obama would be lying by claiming to be a staunch supporter of Israel, probably our best ally in the world.

Nice diversion though.

**maniclion** · 10-29-2008, 02:30 PM

Originally Posted by busyLivin

Yeah, it's not important or relevant that Obama would be lying by claiming to be a staunch supporter of Israel, probably our best ally in the world.

Nice diversion though.

Can he not support both sides and want to see a peaceful resolution to their problems. I myself have no ill will towards either side but I abhor the wrong tactics they both resort to in an attempt to reach their own selfish goals..... I would befriend a Palestinian and an Israeli in an attempt to better understand the dilemmas they face...... Obama's showing great diplomacy by having gotten close to these types of people and having a chance to have a very close look into what makes them tick....keep your friends close and your enemies closer right? Take Ronald Reagan's friendship with Mikhail Gorbachev he was close to him in a time when Russia was considered our worst enemy, in the end that friendship led to better understandings and the eventual luke warmth of the Cold War.......

**MCx2** · 10-29-2008, 02:32 PM

<---------------- Is ignoring/downplaying this thread.

**fufu** · 10-29-2008, 02:43 PM

^ I'm with you.

**min0 lee** · 10-29-2008, 02:46 PM

Originally Posted by Big Smoothy

Uhm....don't you think this would have been brought to light by now??

.

I have to agree with him on this, this has been around for a more than a week......why wait till most votes went in?
This information could change the minds of many....or is it just a fake.

Shame on me for not posting this before, but I think....well I know I start too many political threads.

**KelJu** · 10-29-2008, 03:03 PM

I would expect no less from busylivin.

**ZECH** · 10-29-2008, 06:13 PM

Originally Posted by maniclion

I would befriend a Palestinian and an Israeli in an attempt to better understand the dilemmas they face......

Take Ronald Reagan's friendship with Mikhail Gorbachev he was close to him in a time when Russia was considered our worst enemy, in the end that friendship led to better understandings and the eventual luke warmth of the Cold War.......

Israel and Palestine hate each others guts. Always have, always will. There will never be peace between them. They both cannot have Israel.
But you do make a great point about Regan and Gorbachev. I'm glad that happened in my lifetime.

**Little Wing** · 10-29-2008, 06:50 PM

keep your friends close n your enemies closer maybe

**Prince** · 10-29-2008, 07:50 PM

Originally Posted by KelJu

I would expect no less from busylivin.

ditto.

**busyLivin** · 10-29-2008, 09:14 PM

Originally Posted by Prince

ditto.

And as evident by the title, I expect nothing less of many of you. You make me the issue instead of giving any thought, credence, or even acknowledgment to the story.

Now that is predictable.

**Prince** · 10-29-2008, 09:37 PM

Originally Posted by busyLivin

And as evident by the title, I expect nothing less of many of you. You make me the issue instead of giving any thought, credence, or even acknowledgment to the story.

Now that is predictable.

thank you.

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