Woops: McCain Funded Rashid Khalidi

reply to post by Marcus Calpurnius


You cut out what, five or six words out of a post? Yeah, nice try. Also, the Palestinians HATE Israel because they claim the land as theirs. Israel claims it as their land and hates them. But... Let's ask two different futbol players, one from England and one from Canada, what they think about their rivals. Why, they say they hate each other. I guess that means England wants to commit genocide on them. And if you buy a ticket to a game you support terrorism.

reply to post by GamerGal


Why cant you answer a simple question? Why is the LA times withholding a video of Obama at an ant-Jew bash?

reply to post by Marcus Calpurnius


And you know that how? Did you see the video? Maybe it shows Obama and Rashid making out in nothing but bright red thongs? Or shows them getting matching tattoos, each one a half heart so when they press their butts together they make a whole heart. And if Rashid is a terrorist then McCain FUNDED TERRORISM! Or he's not and McCain didn't fund terrorism. And as you and your ilk ignore I claim McCain did not fund a terrorist AND Obama is not palling around with a terrorist.

reply to post by GamerGal


I know that, because the LA times did a story on the video. which is why we're talking about this in the first place. Maybe you need to get yourself up to speed?

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic

I don't think that anyone is doubting that Khalidi could have been labeled as a terrorist back in the early 90s. I hope you see what the main difference is here. Paperwork that ties McCain to Khalidi is nearly as damning as video footage that shows Obama having dinner with Khalidi.

Imagine if any of the accusations of Bush's grandfather giving money to Hitler would have been accompanied by photos of Bush's grandfather having dinner with Hitler. See the difference? It's the level of involvement and commitment. You've seen the Rumsfeld and Saddam hand shake photo right? Yeah, that photo is worth an entire vault of paper evidence tying them to each other.

reply to post by Marcus Calpurnius


Then why did they not release the video? Because it would prove their article to be a lie? Oops. And again, IF RASHID IS A TERRORIST THEN MCCAIN FUNDED TERRORISM! If he's not, then McCain did not. And once again my money is that Rashid is not a terrorist, and McCain did not fund terrorism. But you're doing your hardest to prove he supports terrorists even when I fight that he's not.

Originally posted by GamerGal
reply to post by seagull

 

HOW!? They claim Rashid is a terrorist, and Obama pals around with him, BUT McCain doesn't fund terrorists. But McCain gave him HALF A MILLION DOLLARS! So either Rashid is a terrorist and McCain funds terrorism OR he's not a terrorist and McCain doesn't fund terrorists.

"Although AAAN co-founder Rashid Khalidi has at times denied working directly for the PLO, he reportedly served as director of the official PLO press agency WAFA in Beirut from 1976 to 1982, a period during which the PLO committed scores of anti-Western attacks and was labeled by the U.S. as a terror group. Khalidi's wife, Mona Khalidi, reportedly was WAFA's English translator during that period.

Khalidi also advised the Palestinian delegation to the Madrid Conference in 1991. During documented speeches and public events, Khalidi has called Israel an "apartheid system in creation" and a "racist" state. Critics have accused him of excusing Palestinian terrorism, a charge he denies. "

www.jewishpress.com...

reply to post by dbates


Star for you. But a photo, especially today, can be photoshopped. Same as video. Not saying the video is edited but it doesn't mean much. When you have tax reports that prove McCain funded Rashid it doesn't need a photo of him handing him money. My main point is people here claim he's a terrorist, and Obama is friends with terrorist. But if Rashid is a terrorist then McCain funded terrorism. Or he's not and Obama is not friends with a terrorist.

reply to post by jibeho


So you're claiming McCain did fund a known terrorist. So Obama pals around with terrorists, only after McCain gives them a ton of money.

I don't know about you, but it appears to me that as independents are concerned, McPalin campaign shot itself in the foot with that Khalidi issue. Sure, it can elicit "boos" in Palin's rallies, but the fact remains that McCain was involved, to a degree, in financing this guy. That's not the same as sitting in his living room. Seriously.

reply to post by buddhasystem


But should it matter that McCain was involved? The Republicans make Rashid out to be a OBL Jr. but then say he's not a terrorist when McCain funded him. He only became a terrorist when Obama met him. I call BS on it and say no one funded or met or is friends with a terrorist because they know Rashid. He may hate Israel, but so do lots of others. Are you saying the entire Middle East are terrorists? Lot's of them are little kids who are missing a family member or a limb because of something Israel did. Are you saying a four year old girl is a terrorist?

"Democratic presidential frontrunner Sen. Barack Obama served as a paid director on the board of a nonprofit organization that granted funding to a controversial Arab group that mourns the establishment of Israel as a "catastrophe." (Obama has also reportedly spoken at fundraisers for Palestinians living in what the United Nations terms refugee camps.)

Khalidi held a fundraiser in 2000 for Obama's failed bid for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

In 2001, the Woods Fund, a Chicago-based nonprofit that describes itself as a group helping the disadvantaged, provided a $40,000 grant to the Arab American Action Network, or AAAN, at which Khalidi's wife, Mona, serves as president. The Fund provided a second grant to AAAN for $35,000 in 2002.

Obama was a director of the Woods Fund board from 1999 to Dec. 11, 2002, according to the Fund's website. According to tax filings, Obama received compensation of $6,000 per year for his service in 1999 and 2000.

The $40,000 grant from the Woods Fund to AAAN constituted about a fifth of the group's re
ported grants for 2001, also according to tax filings. The $35,000 Woods Fund grant in 2002 made up about one-fifth of AAAN's reported grants for that year as well."

Asked during a radio interview with this reporter on WABC's John Batchelor program about his 2000 fundraiser for Obama, Khalidi said he "was just doing my duties as a Chicago resident to help my local politician."

Khalidi said he supports Obama for president "because he is the only candidate who has expressed sympathy for the Palestinian cause."

Khalidi also lauded Obama for "saying he supports talks with Iran. If the U.S. can talk with the Soviet Union during the Cold War, there is no reason it can't talk with the Iranians."

Concerning Obama's role in funding AAAN, Khalidi claimed he "never heard of the Woods Fund until it popped up on a bunch of blogs a few months ago." He terminated the interview when pressed further about his links with Obama.

Contacted by phone, Mona Khalidi refused to answer questions about AAAN's involvement with Obama.

The Obama campaign did not reply to a list of questions sent by e-mail to the senator's press office.

www.jewishpress.com...

reply to post by jibeho


Refugee camps caused by... Israel! Why do you think they hate Israel so much? Do you think they hit say, fourteen and suddenly a part of their brain changes and they start hating Israel? Go ask some eldar Native Americans what they think about America and the people who raped their lands? What, they hate the people that took their lands and sent them to the worst patches of dirt in AMerica? I guess they hate America and any one who supports Native American causes are evil.

Originally posted by dbates
Paperwork that ties McCain to Khalidi is nearly as damning as video footage that shows Obama having dinner with Khalidi.

Do you mean isn't nearly as damning? If so, I agree. If we're talking about public perception and how much it could hurt one's campaign, yeah a picture or video is going to affect the non-thinking individuals more than a name on a piece of paper.

What I'm pointing out is that there's not any real difference. [b[If Khalidi is to be considered a terrorist, then Obama had dinner with a terrorist, and McCain funded a terrorist, which any THINKING person would see is just as damning, if not more so.

I didn't read about the withholding of the videotape and all the details of this, as I'm frankly tired of the whole mess. But if there's a video of Obama and Khalidi having dinner, is it any wonder he doesn't want people to see it? Because, like you alluded, a picture's worth a thousand damning words.

I'd sure do a lot more research on a man before funding him than I would before dropping in for a beer with him.

It's not called: "putting your money where your mouth is," for nothing.

As for the idea that saying the IDF has committed terrorism is bad, and supporting the Palestinians is bad, someone's been swallowing too much Israeli propaganda.

For Immediate Release
October 29, 2008

Washington, DC – “Questions have arisen regarding the International Republican Institute’s (IRI) work with Palestinians in the 1990s.

“In the 1990s, IRI gave grants to the Center for Palestinian Research and Studies (CPRS) for polling in the West Bank/Gaza. The polls measured support for the peace process, for various Palestinian political groups, and for efforts to enhance governance in the West Bank/Gaza. At that time no other organization could credibly conduct polling in the West Bank/Gaza.

“We understand that Rashid Khalidi was one of the many founders of CPRS, and we understand that he was for some (unclear) amount of time a board member. IRI did not in the 1990s conduct background checks of grantees’ founders or board members. IRI did on a number of occasions vet CPRS as an organization, including, as was our custom, with the Israeli government, and we were given no cause for concern.

“We do not recall any contact between Mr. Khalidi and IRI, and there is no evidence that Mr. Khalidi benefited in any way from IRI's grants.

“Other organizations that reportedly gave funding to CPRS include the National Endowment for Democracy, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Center for International Private Enterprise, the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations, the Japanese Embassy, and Germany’s Friedrich Naumann Stiftung.

“IRI’s relationship with CPRS ended in 2000, and we understand that it no longer exists.”

www.iri.org...

reply to post by jibeho


So they gave Rashid money for a decade? So McCain gave money to some one who is a "terrorist" for a decade? So you're claiming that McCain funded terrorism for a decade? A decade of association and funding compared to Obama having dinner?

Originally posted by GamerGal
reply to post by jibeho

 

So they gave Rashid money for a decade? So McCain gave money to some one who is a "terrorist" for a decade? So you're claiming that McCain funded terrorism for a decade? A decade of association and funding compared to Obama having dinner?

The IRI gave grant money to the CPRS. McCain did not write a personal check to Kalidi. Once again you did not read the press release from IRI. Obamas ties with Rashid are far more recent and far more personal. Unless you can prove that McCain wrote the check and handed it to Rashid you have no ground to stand on with your claims.

Originally posted by intelligent life


Its not important whether they met or not.

Bottom line is the person running an organization (chairman) is liable for the actions of that organization.

AKA why a CEO can be fired for crappy company performance.

McCain, regardless of whether it was knowingly or not, chaired an oprganization that passed funds to an organization that was founded by an accused terrorist.

McCain was responsible for every penny of that organization and where it went. He saw all the paperwork as it passed through the admin offices.

It doesn't matter if he met with the guy or not. He ran an organization that didn't do its due diligence and funded an organization it shouldn't have.

Bottom line is the President of the United States needs to show accountability, and this is a perfect example of McCain showing none, and here you are supporting him.

I don't care who gets elected cause pretty much shiz is gonna go down eitehr way. Both of the candidates are overplayed and unqualified for the position so we are stuck voting for the worse of two evils, AGAIN.

Both of them need to step up and asure the people that they are open to being held accountable for their mistakes, the exact opposite way that Bush has used his mistakes to beget more mistakes and justify one with the other. Its insanity.

So glad his term is coming to an end.

Finally, someone is calmly making some sense. Star for you. No offense to anyone here.

reply to post by jibeho


“IRI’s relationship with CPRS ended in 2000, and we understand that it no longer exists.” From 1990-2000. That is ten years of support. So either stop claiming Rashid to be a terrorist or say he is and McCain supports terrorism. The guy may hate Israel but so do hundreds of millions. Israel is not pure and innocent. There is a reason that nine year old boy who is missing an arm and nearly starving to death hates them.