McCain Demands LA TIMES Release Video of Obama at Party for Palestinian Activist
Posted on October 28, 2008
John McCain’s campaign is demanding that the Los Angeles Times release a video of a party for a prominent Palestinian activist that Barack Obama attended in 2003.
The Times described the going-away party for former University of Chicago professor, and Obama friend, Rashid Khalidi, in a story in April. The story reported that Palestinians thought they might have a friend in Obama because of his friendships in that community, despite the fact that his positions have never been particularly pro-Palestinian.
“A major news organization is intentionally suppressing information that could provide a clearer link between Barack Obama and Rashid Khalidi,” said McCain spokesman Michael Goldfarb, citing Obama’s friendship with Khalidi, who is now a professor at Columbia University.
He said the video could, among other things, show how Obama responded to a poem recited at the party accusing Israel of “terrorism” and warning of consequences for U.S. support for Israel, which Goldfarb described as “hate speech.”
“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,” he said.
The campaign hadn’t previously demanded the video, though conservative bloggers have, and neither other reporters nor McCain’s researchers have been able to dig up a copy.
Khalidi is a controversial figure, reviled by pro-Israel activists, though not a marginal one. A former professor at the University of Chicago, he’s now Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies at Columbia, and respected by many in academia. He’s been criticized most for saying that Palestinians have a right to resist Israeli occupation and has been described as a former P.L.O. spokesman, a label he has denied.
The paper hasn’t explained its unwillingness to release the video, and Peter Wallsten, who found the tape and wrote about it, declined to discuss it with me last night. He forwarded an e-mail that the paper has sent readers who have complained as conservative blogs raise the issue.
“Over six months ago the Los Angeles Times published a detailed account of the events shown on the videotape. The Times is not suppressing anything. Just the opposite — the L.A. Times brought the matter to light,” wrote the readers’ representative, Jamie Gold.
L.A. Times spokeswoman Nancy Sullivan wouldn’t discuss the decision not to release the tape in detail.
Keep up the pressure, voters deserve to have this info before pulling the lever. Hopefully the pressure from McCain will do some good.
» Filed Under 1st Amendment, Domestic Enemies, Elections, Israel, Journalistic Malpractice, Liberal Media/Bias, News, terrorism
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6 Responses to “McCain Demands LA TIMES Release Video of Obama at Party for Palestinian Activist”
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Sweet!
They need to release this video. The American people are entitled to see who this man really is that they are electing as their president. Since he refuses to reveal the true nature of his relationships with these radical leftists, and terrorists, both domestic and abroad, we can only rely on other forms of evidence that come to light.
Let the light shine on Barack Obama.
http://www.urbanconservative.com/2008/10/28/150000-reward-for-the-release-of-the-obama-video-by-the-los-angeles-times/
$150K reward offer for Obama/LA Times video… just saw this a few minutes ago.
something is wrong with this world when our country is in the trouble that it is in. Looking at the fights that are on TV when I turn on cnn and especially Fox news. IT sadden my heart and The real Truth is you just do not want to see a black man in office. IT call Change and it’s coming one way or the other. And it’s coming like it or not.
Pot & Kettle?
“During the 1990s, while he served as chairman of the International Republican Institute (IRI), McCain distributed several grants to the Palestinian research center co-founded by Khalidi, including one worth half a million dollars.
A 1998 tax filing for the McCain-led group shows a $448,873 grant to Khalidi’s Center for Palestine Research and Studies for work in the West Bank.”
Seems like everyone is anti-semitic that posts a view regarding Palestine’s suppression etc. How much do we send to Israel on an annual basis? 5 Billion or something. By the way you can say Jimmy Carter might have been a bad President, but you cannot call him a liar. The American Jewish population after his book came out,did not want to here the truth. US news is biased and he proved it.Obama will change the flow into Israel ( all of Europe knows what is going on)and gain respect back for the US.