ELECTION 2008
Obama raised funds for Islamic causes
Speeches for Palestinian refugees called code for Israel's destruction

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Posted: February 25, 2008
10:18 pm Eastern


By Aaron Klein
© 2008 WorldNetDaily



Sen. Barack Obama (WND photo)
JERUSALEM – Sen. Barack Obama has spoken at fundraisers for Palestinians living in what the United Nations terms refugee camps, WND has learned.

Palestinians have long demanded the "right of return" for millions of "refugees," a formula Israeli officials across the political spectrum warn is code for Israel's destruction by flooding the Jewish state with millions of Muslim Arabs, thereby changing its demographics.

In a conference call last month with Jewish and Israeli media aimed primarily at dispelling Internet reports he is anti-Israel, Obama stated "Palestinian refugees" belong in their own state and do not have a "literal" right of return to Israel.

"We cannot move forward until there is some confidence that the Palestinians are able to provide the security apparatus that would prevent constant attacks against Israel from taking place," continued Obama during the conference with Jewish journalists.

But in the 1990s Obama was a speaker at events in Chicago's large Palestinian immigrant community to raise funds for U.N. camps for the so-called Palestinian refugees.

(Story continues below)



Ali Abunimah, a Chicago-based Palestinian-American activist and co-founder of Electronic Intifada, a pro-Palestinian online publication, recalls introducing Obama at one such event, a 1999 fundraiser for the Deheisha Palestinian camp in the West Bank.

Abunimah is also a harsh critic of Israel and has protested outside pro-Israel events in the Chicago area.

"I knew Barack Obama for many years as my state senator – when he used to attend events in the Palestinian community in Chicago all the time," stated Abuminah during an interview last month with Democracy Now!, a nationally syndicated radio and television political program.

"I remember personally introducing [Obama] onstage in 1999, when we had a major community fundraiser for the community center in Deheisha refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. And that's just one example of how Barack Obama used to be very comfortable speaking up for and being associated with Palestinian rights and opposing the Israeli occupation," Abunimah said.

Abunimah also was recently quoted saying that until a few years ago, Obama was "quite frank that the U.S. needed to be more evenhanded, that it leaned too much toward Israel."

Abunimah noted Obama's unusual stance toward Israel, commenting "these were the kind of statements I'd never heard from a U.S. politician who seemed like he was going somewhere, rather than at the end of his career."

'Critical of U.S. bias toward Israel'

Abunimah previously described meeting with Obama at a fundraiser at the home of Columbia University professor Rashid Khalidi, reportedly a former PLO activist.

"[Obama]came with his wife. That's where I had a chance to really talk to him," Abunimah recalled. "It was an intimate setting. He convinced me he was very aware of the issues [and] critical of U.S. bias toward Israel and lack of sensitivity to Arabs. ... He was very supportive of U.S. pressure on Israel.

According to quotes obtained by Gulf News, Abunimah recalled a 2004 meeting in a Chicago neighborhood while Obama was running for his Senate seat. Abunimah quoted Obama telling him "warmly" he was sorry that "I haven't said more about Palestine right now, but we are in a tough primary race."

"I'm hoping when things calm down, I can be more up front," Abunimah reportedly quoted the senator as saying.

Abunimah said Obama urged him to "keep up the good work" at the Chicago Tribune, where Abunimah contributed guest columns that were highly critical of Israel.

Obama's campaign headquarters did not reply to an e-mail request seeking comment on his fundraising activities for Palestinians.

Abunimah serves on the board of the Arab American Action Network, or AAAN, a controversial Arab group that mourns the establishment of Israel as a "catastrophe" and supports intense immigration reform, including providing driver's licenses and education to illegal aliens.

WND reported yesterday the Woods Fund, a Chicago-based nonprofit on which Obama served as a paid director alongside a confessed domestic terrorist, provided $75,000 in grants to the AAAN.



'Very active' terror apparatus

Obama's 1999 fundraising for the Palestinian Deheisha camp raised the eyebrows of one senior Israeli security official who was contacted yesterday for comment on the issue. The official, who was not aware of Obama's fundraising, noted Deheisha, which is located near the city of Bethlehem, had a "very active" Palestinian terror apparatus in 1999, carrying out scores of deadly shootings against Israeli civilians that year.

Two of the most deadly suicide bombings in 2002 also were planned from Deheisha, where the suicide bombers originated, said the security official. On one such bombing, in March of that year, 11 people were killed and over 50 injured, four critically when a Deheisha bomber detonated his explosives next to a group of Jewish women waiting with their baby carriages for their husbands to leave a nearby synagogue.

The question of so-called Palestinian refugees is a sensitive one for supporters of Israel. All Israeli prime ministers have stated a final peace deal with the Palestinians cannot include the "return" of "refugees."

When Arab countries attacked the Jewish state after its creation in 1948, some 725,000 Arabs living within Israel's borders fled or were flushed out when the Jewish state pushed back attacking Arab armies. Also at that time, about 820,000 Jews were expelled from Arab countries or fled following rampant persecution.

While most Jewish refugees were absorbed by Israel and other countries, the majority of Palestinian Arabs have been maintained in 59 U.N.-run camps that do not seek to settle those Arabs elsewhere.

There are currently about 4 million Arabs who claim Palestinian refugee status with the U.N., including children and grandchildren of the original fleeing Arabs; Arabs living full-time in Jordan; and Arabs who long ago emigrated throughout the Middle East and to the West.

Other cases of worldwide refugees aided by the U.N. are handled through the international body's High Commission for Refugees, which seeks to settle the refugees quickly, usually in countries other than those from which they fled.

The U.N. created a special agency – the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA – specifically to handle registered Palestinian refugees. It's the only refugee case handled by the U.N. in which the declared refugees are housed and maintained in camps for generations instead of facilitating the refugees' resettlement elsewhere.

The U.N. officially restricts the definition of refugee status worldwide for nationalities outside the Palestinian arena to those who fled a country of nationality or habitual residence due to persecution, who are unable to return to their place of residence and who have not yet been resettled. Future generations of original refugees are not included in the U.N.'s definition of refugees.

But the U.N. uses a different set of criteria only when defining a Palestinian refugee – allowing future generations to be considered refugees; terming as refugees those Arabs who have been resettled in other countries, such as hundreds of thousands in Jordan; removing the clause requiring persecution; and removing the clause requiring a refugee to be fleeing his or her "country of nationality or habitual residence."

Palestinian leaders, including Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, routinely refer to the "right of return," claiming the declared right is mandated by the U.N. But the two U.N. resolutions dealing with the refugee issue recommend that Israel "achieve a just settlement" for the "refugee problem." The resolutions, which are not binding, do not speak of any "right of return" and leave open the possibility of monetary compensation or other kinds of settlements.

Obama worked with terrorist



Obama's advocacy on behalf of Palestinians comes after WND reported yesterday the presidential candidate served on the board of the Woods Fund alongside William C. Ayers, a member of the Weathermen terrorist group which sought to overthrow of the U.S. government and took responsibility for bombings against government buildings.

Ayers, who still serves on the Woods Fund board, contributed $200 to Obama's senatorial campaign fund and has served on panels with Obama at numerous public speaking engagements. Ayers admitted to involvement in the bombings of U.S. governmental buildings in the 1970s. He is a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Ayers has boasted of his involvement with the Weathermen terror group's bombings of the New York City Police headquarters in 1970, the Capitol in 1971 and the Pentagon in 1972.

"I don't regret setting bombs. I feel we didn't do enough," Ayers told the New York Times in an interview released Sept. 11, 2001

"Everything was absolutely ideal on the day I bombed the Pentagon," Ayers wrote in his memoirs, titled "Fugitive Days." He continued with a disclaimer that he didn't personally set the bombs, but his group set the explosives and planned the attack.

A $200 campaign contribution is listed April 2, 2001, by the "Friends of Barack Obama" campaign fund. The two appeared as speakers together at several public events, including a 1997 University of Chicago panel entitled, "Should a child ever be called a 'super predator?'" and another panel for the University of Illinois in April 2002, entitled, "Intellectuals: Who Needs Them?"

The charges against Ayers were dropped in 1974 because of prosecutorial misconduct, including illegal surveillance.

Ayers is married to another notorious Weathermen terrorist, Bernadine Dohrn, who also has served on panels with Obama. Dohrn was once on the FBI's Top 10 Most Wanted List and was described by J. Edgar Hoover as the "most dangerous woman in America." Ayers and Dohrn raised the son of Weathermen terrorist Kathy Boudin, who was serving a sentence for participating in a 1981 murder and robbery that left four people dead.

Obama adviser wants talks with terrorists

Last month WND quoted Israeli security officials who expressed "concern" about Robert Malley, an adviser to Obama who has advocated negotiations with Hamas and providing international assistance to the terrorist group.

Malley, a principal Obama foreign policy adviser, has penned numerous opinion articles, many of them co-written with a former adviser to the late Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, petitioning for dialogue with Hamas and blasting Israel for numerous policies he says harm the Palestinian cause.

Malley also previously penned a well-circulated New York Review of Books piece largely blaming Israel for the collapse of the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations at Camp David in 2000 when Arafat turned down a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and eastern sections of Jerusalem and instead returned to the Middle East to launch an intifada, or terrorist campaign, against the Jewish state.

Malley's contentions have been strongly refuted by key participants at Camp David, including President Bill Clinton, then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and primary U.S. envoy to the Middle East Dennis Ross, all of whom squarely blamed Arafat's refusal to make peace for the talks' failure.

To interview Aaron Klein, contact M. Sliwa Public Relations by e-mail, or call 973-272-2861 or 212-202-4453.

How dare Obama raise money for these terrorists!



Also, Robert Malley's no longer affiliated with the Obama campaign.

Neither is his pastor or his church.

Loses votes, so ya got to dump it.

It is well known that there are Islamic causes that fund money to terrorists.

Cute picture though. Iraqi kids playing soccer with our soldiers perhaps?

quote:

Originally posted by calfoxwc:
It is well known that there are Islamic causes that fund money to terrorists.

This is the "Islamic cause" Obama was raising money for:

quote:

The Ibdaa Center does just that for the children of Deheisha. Ibdaa, which comes from the Arabic word “to make something from nothing,” was founded in the midst of the Second Intifada. Ibrahim, an Ibdaa employee, says the center was established at a time when “there was nothing for the children to do except to observe and participate in the Intifada, surrounded by violence. This filled their life.”

As Ibdaa grew, it began to provide for more people in Deheisha, and it is now the backbone of the community. Its programs include a co-ed traditional dance troupe, a basketball team, a youth-run radio station, and a popular summer camp. It provides a place for adolescents to spend time and, because of Ibdaa’s role as a hostel for foreigners, interact with different types of people. Ibrahim says Ibdaa uses these programs to “build leaders who will help create a free society that will be united by common beliefs of democracy and equality, where everyone has the opportunity to participate in the life of the nation.”

More programs like Ibdaa’s are sorely needed as a means to encourage such Palestinian unity. Children growing up in West Bank refugee camps often have no exposure to social movements outside of Hamas or Fatah. Ibrahim and many others believe the conflict between Hamas and Fatah has distracted the Palestinian people from the larger problems confronting the region: Palestine’s relationship with Israel, which, in fact, only exacerbates the tensions between Hamas and Fatah. By providing another option, Ibdaa fosters Palestinian unity and progressive values by helping a new generation focus on solving a bigger problem—like reaching a realistic and lasting peace settlement with Israel.

Can we set up a separate board for retarded "World Net Daily" propaganda? Cal shits this stuff up so much it makes this board look retarded.

I've yet to see any of us Dems go trolling around for stupid-ass left wing nonsense about McCain. It's pointless and silly.

We should just let his posts go. What's he going to do, come to understand that this is a ridiculous smear from a hack online "newspaper" that doesn't make any sense, and then learn something from a post like Alo's and change his mind?

That'll be the day.

quote:

But in the 1990s Obama was a speaker at events in Chicago's large Palestinian immigrant community to raise funds for U.N. camps for the so-called Palestinian refugees.

Ali Abunimah, a Chicago-based Palestinian-American activist and co-founder of Electronic Intifada, a pro-Palestinian online publication, recalls introducing Obama at one such event, a 1999 fundraiser for the Deheisha Palestinian camp in the West Bank.

Abunimah is also a harsh critic of Israel and has protested outside pro-Israel events in the Chicago area.

"I knew Barack Obama for many years as my state senator – when he used to attend events in the Palestinian community in Chicago all the time," stated Abuminah during an interview last month with Democracy Now!, a nationally syndicated radio and television political program.

"I remember personally introducing [Obama] onstage in 1999, when we had a major community fundraiser for the community center in Deheisha refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. And that's just one example of how Barack Obama used to be very comfortable speaking up for and being associated with Palestinian rights and opposing the Israeli occupation," Abunimah said.

Abunimah also was recently quoted saying that until a few years ago, Obama was "quite frank that the U.S. needed to be more evenhanded, that it leaned too much toward Israel."

***********************************************
So, what part of the above excerpt is NOT TRUE? I understand it to say the co-founder of this loving group to help children is a harsh critic of Israel.

Meaning, he is not a harsh critic of the terrorist actions of Hamas? And Obumbla agrees with the founder?

Ah. Yet ANOTHER "he isn't what he used to be when I knew him but I don't know him now and what he agrees with I have always agreed with but not right now because it would lose me votes"

by HUSSEIN. He's toast in the next election. McCain wins, and DESERVEDLY SO.

That's just dumb, Cal.

Wouldn't you expect Palestinians to be "harsh critics" of Israel? I also know many Israelis who strongly criticize their government - does that make them terrorist sympathizers?

And what about President Bush, who said that PM Ehud Olmert is an an obstacle to a potential Israel-Palestine deal? Does he want to kill Jews?

Anyone who supports a two-state solution recognizes that both Israelis and Palestinians have suffered.

Somehow I sense that you're not part of that crowd.

You may be Shep's other brother Darryl, alright.

The switching of his statements are adversely, and I do mean, dramatically, affecting Hussein Obama's credibility.

Read again:

"I remember personally introducing [Obama] onstage in 1999, when we had a major community fundraiser for the community center in Deheisha refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. And that's just one example of how Barack Obama used to be very comfortable speaking up for and being associated with Palestinian rights and opposing the Israeli occupation," Abunimah said.

I take it that Obama re-wrote the history, as usual, to fit his surroundings, that Israel was never attacked in a full blown war to wipe them off the map?

You do know that happened, right?

I don't think Obama does. And sending a signal to all terrorists in Arab countries that he "sides" with them...

is really giving great energy to American's concerns about his glaring naivete about world affairs.

But, look who he surrounded himself with. Terrorists and racists and hatemongers.

I am fine with a two state solution. But the Isreali's were attacked BEFORE they took the Golan Heights, the West Bank and Gaza in their OWN DEFENSE in a WAR THEY DID NOT START.

HINT: There have been Arab factions that have HATED the Jewish people -long- before Israel was EVER a state.

Hush now, go read up on your Middle East history.

And ANOTHER THING, Darryl -

The Palestinians get their own state. How do you propose that the hatred of Jews and the desire to wipe Israel off the face of the earth, and the bloody, violent terrorist actions that kill innocent men, women and children on BOTH SIDES - disappears ?

Dude do you truly believe Obama gave funds to terrorists?

quote:

Dude do you truly believe Obama gave funds to terrorists?

I doubt we'll get a straight answer. Cal posts some crazy shit here and I can't imagine him saying, "Yeah, I know this doesn't seem very likely."

That isn't what I'm saying at all. You surely, intentionally misrepresent what this is all about. No wonder you argue so much.

FACT: Obama has raised money for Islamic causes.

ASSUMPTION: It via a noble intention.

FACT: Obama is pre-disposed to curry favor with his local based Arab contigence, and as such, sides with them politically.

Meanwhile, for all of the org you mention that helps kids:

Go to their website.

Then, READ THIS:

http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-%20Obstacle%20to%20...0in%20Israel%20Since

His local... HUH?

Dude, please tell me you're stoned all the time. If not, seriously consider it.

Obama is a Christian from Chicago with a white mom, just so you know.

I thought you wanted the separation of government and religion?

Obama's "Christianity" seems more like "Black entitlement politically oriented subculture".

With a high degree of glaring sympathy towards Hezbollah and Hamas. And the Palestinians. And socialism. And saying nothing very eloquently.

With Obama? The bark is falling off the ugly tree.

quote:

You remember fundamentalist Christians right?
They were evil up until few months ago.

I am convinced you're just writing absolute nonsense now to confuse the living crap out of me.

HUH???

Cal, I don't even know who you're talking about. Ugly tree? Not eloquent?

Who? McCain?

From the last few posts, it seriously sounds like you and Steve are writing from an opium den or something. It's total nonsense now. He's a Muslim! No, he's Christian but that's bad, too! He loves socialist Palestinians and Hezbollah!

Seriously, guys... move to the woods or something. You've lost it.

quote:

Originally posted by calfoxwc:
I take it that Obama re-wrote the history, as usual, to fit his surroundings, that Israel was never attacked in a full blown war to wipe them off the map?

Where did Obama say that Israel's never been attacked?

quote:

I am fine with a two state solution. But the Isreali's were attacked BEFORE they took the Golan Heights, the West Bank and Gaza in their OWN DEFENSE in a WAR THEY DID NOT START.

Just because Israel acted justly in the Six Day War doesn't mean that Israel should rule the Palestinians indefinitely.

As the Israeli novelist Amos Oz once wrote, "Even unavoidable occupation corrupts."

quote:

Hush now, go read up on your Middle East history.

Actually, I've been reading up a lot lately.

I just finished Gershom Gorenberg's The Accidental Empire: Israel and the Birth of the Settlements, 1967-1977. A very good book; I recommend you read it.

quote:

Meanwhile, for all of the org you mention that helps kids:

Go to their website.

Then, READ THIS:

http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-%20Obstacle%20to%20...0in%20Israel%20Since

Of course, Palestinian terrorism is horrible. That's why the Ibdaa Center tries to direct Palestininian children away from extremism. This is an organization that runs a basketball league, not a bomb-making factory.

Another thing: if you plot the data from the Foreign Ministry site, you get this:



This graph doesn't take into account all of the important factors. For instance, violence surged in 2000 just as the peace process was collapsing. Similarly, terrorism has declined in recent years because the security fence has prevented Palestinian terrorists from reaching Israel proper.

Still, the trend-line is fairly evident: terrorism declines when Israel is engaged in the peace process.

I can attest to this "peace dividend." In 1999, I was able to walk through Jericho and Hebron without fearing for my safety.

Unfortunately, the only Jews who now go to Jericho or Hebron are either heavily-armed Israeli soldiers or religious settlers of the extremist bent.

Cal, no one says that reaching a peace deal will be easy. As Ariel Sharon used to say, doing so will require making "painful compromises."

But making territorial compromises is better than maintaining the status quo. By 2020, there will be more Arabs between the Sinai and the Jordan River than Jews. At that point, Israel will be forced to shed its "Jewish and democratic" ethos and become a binational state.

So as someone committed to Israel's identity & security, I have no problem with Barack Obama's support for Palestinian rights.