Marathon Pundit: More Obama Israel problems

Monday, February 25, 2008

More Obama Israel problems

Somehow I missed all of this yesterday.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

On Sunday, Ralph Nader, announcing another run for president on NBC's "Meet the Press," was critical of Obama's strong support for Israel, saying Obama "was pro-Palestinian when he was in Illinois before he ran for the state Senate."

So true. In 2000, Palestinian activist Rashid Khalidi, then a Hyde Park resident and now a Columbia University professor, held a fund-raiser for Barack Obama's unsuccessful 2000 run for Congress. More on that here.

The Obama campaign responded this way:

Barack Obama's long-standing support for Israel's security is rooted in his belief that no civilians should have to live with the threat of terrorism.

Hmmm...does the name Bill Ayers ring a bell?

Obama is distancing himself from his controversial campaign adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski.

More from the Sun-Times:

I do not share his views with respect to Israel. I have said so clearly and unequivocally," Obama said. "He's not one of my key advisers. I've had lunch with him once. I've exchanged e-mails with him maybe three times. He came to Iowa to introduce ... for a speech on Iraq."

His former pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright,see more on him in the below post, was addressed too.

Wright, Obama said Sunday, "is like an old uncle who sometimes will say things that I don't agree with. And I suspect there are some of the people in this room who have heard relatives say some things that they don't agree with, including, on occasion, directed at African Americans. ... I am not suggesting that's definitive."