Obama’s First Anti-Racism Test as President [UPDATE]
By LisaB on December 11, 2008 at 12:25 AM in Ahmadinejad, Mahmoud, Barack Obama, Iran, Islam, Israel, Jews, UN Human Rights Council
(Originally printed December 5, 2008)
UPDATE: The Chicago Tribune (understandably busy with the Blagojevich blow-up) has the “first ever” newspaper interview with the official PEBO. As we said several days ago, PEBO has stated he wants to make a major speech from a muslim capital. Fine.
Barack Obama says his presidency is an opportunity for the U.S. to renovate its relations with the Muslim world, starting the day of his inauguration and continuing with a speech he plans to deliver in an Islamic capital.
And when he takes the oath of office Jan. 20, he plans to be sworn in like every other president, using his full name: Barack Hussein Obama.
Read the rest ->
“I think we’ve got a unique opportunity to reboot America’s image around the world and also in the Muslim world in particular,” Obama said Tuesday, promising an “unrelenting” desire to “create a relationship of mutual respect and partnership in countries and with peoples of good will who want their citizens and ours to prosper together.”
The world, he said, “is ready for that message.”
BO seems to think the world is breathlessly anticipating his speech on the matter. Somehow I doubt it will have THAT big an impact, but it’s worth a try. Meanwhile, the UN is planning an “anti-racism” conference in February, 2009. Earlier this month, Forbes magazine did some research on the 2009 conference and the 2001 that spawned it.
From the original NQ post:
Forbes has an interesting article about a new UN “anti-racism” conference. This new conference will be held in Geneva, April 2009, hard on the heels of the last “anti-racism” conference, held in 2001.
The writer says she studied the now notorious 2001 conference while doing background on the upcoming one.
. . . a notoriously anti-Semitic United Nations conference held in 2001 in Durban, South Africa. Billed as an effort to fight racism, that Durban conclave focused instead on vilifying Israel–whipping up hatred to such an extreme that then- Secretary of State Colin Powell ordered the U.S. delegation to walk out.
The new “anti-racism” conference, called Durban Review Conference, is being organized by some people with serious anti-racism chops. Or not.
The 20-member preparatory committee, operating out of Geneva, is chaired by a Libyan ambassador, Najat Al-Hajjaji. Back in 2003, she chaired the U.N.’s former Human Rights Commission, which discredited itself not only by picking Al-Hajjaji, envoy of Libya’s despotic regime, to run the show, but also by slamming Israel 27 times from 2001 to 2006. As the State Department anti-Semitism report notes, this was more than twice the number of UNHRC criticisms leveled during that same period at North Korea, Burma and Sudan combined.
In 2006, as part of a package of U.N. “reforms,” that farce of a Human Rights Commission was dissolved. It was replaced by the current sham of a Human Rights Council, which in its first 16 months spent most of its time issuing 15 criticisms of Israel, and then singled out Israel to become a permanent item on its agenda.
This same Human Rights Council is now providing the official umbrella and support staff for the Durban Review Conference. Among the vice-chairs of the preparatory committee are emissaries of such unfree countries as Iran, Russia, Pakistan and Cameroon (which, according to New York-based Freedom House, still tolerates slavery in its northern reaches). Cuba–where wholesale repression includes the additional frill of job discrimination against Afro-Cubans–fills two seats at this Durban II table, which features both a Cuban vice-chair and Cuba as Rapporteur.
——————-
As for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, he was quick to express horror over the hate that fueled the terrorist assault on Mumbai. But he has done nothing to defuse the ticking bomb of Durban II. Instead, Ban’s office has been dutifully processing the multi-million dollar funding requests of the Durban organizers. The U.S., which contributes an out-sized 22% to Ban’s budget, is planning to withhold a small portion of that money in hope of pressuring the U.N. into better behavior. Good luck. The U.N. dodge has been to re-frame the total conference tab, now estimated at about $5.1 million, as coming mainly from resources already available, plus donations. China has committed $20,000, Russia $600,000 and a number of as-yet-unnamed member states are expected to pony up.
All of which begs the larger point, that U.S. taxpayers are the chief sugar daddies for the entire U.N. system, which–with its logo, premises and diplomatic perquisites–will give this conference a world stage and stamp of authority it would not otherwise enjoy.
The author ends with this.
Among the U.N.’s 192 member states, only two have had the backbone to announce that they will boycott the Durban Review: Canada, and for obvious reasons, Israel. In the U.S., President Bush has deferred any final decision to the next administration. President-elect Obama, what will you do about Durban II?
She asks a veeerrrrryyy interesting question. What will Obama do? He spent lots of campaign time race-baiting and allowed campaign operatives to use sexism and gender attacks. The LGBT and Hispanic communities are now finding BO’s implied anti-discrimination promise somewhat underwhelming. (Not that this should have come as any surprise to anyone paying the smallest amount of attention to the campaign, but I digress.)
Here’s the thing though. Early in his administration, BO will have to contend with organized anti-Semitism from an institution funded largely by the US. He’ll have to take a stand on racism - something he says is deeply important in his life. The idea of racism is so important to Obama he wrote books about it, centered his religious life around it, selected his home community because of it and built his Presidential campaign around it. Now he’ll have to take a stand when the issue does not directly address only himself or AAs. Given the players in this conference, I don’t see how BO can “finesse” this situation. He will either be against what Forbes called “a mob move against Israel,” or he will permit it. He may try to say the issues are complicated and complex, but the last “anti-racism” conference and the players in this one don’t deserve such hair-splitting from the “post-racial” US President who is, after all, supposed to heal the world.
Making this a little more interesting is the fact that Obama has already said as US President he wants to make a major speech from an Islamic country. The NYT thinks BO will go to Egypt.
President-elect Barack Obama’s aides say he is considering making a major foreign policy speech from an Islamic capital during his first 100 days in office.
————
It’s got to be Cairo. Egypt is perfect. It’s certainly Muslim enough, populous enough and relevant enough. It’s an American ally, but there are enough tensions in the relationship that the choice will feel bold. The country has plenty of democracy problems, so Mr. Obama can speak directly to the need for a better democratic model there. It has got the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist organization that has been embraced by a wide spectrum of the Islamic world, including the disenfranchised and the disaffected.
Politico seems to think it will be Jakarta.
The Obama donor, Los Angeles real estate executive Ted Leary, recalled that Obama spoke of his plan to donors at a February 20, 2007 breakfast fundraiser at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, soon after announcing his run for president.
“Obama told the 20 or so of us at breakfast that ‘his first trip as President would be to Indonesia - the world’s most populous Muslim country,’” Leary recalled.
Commentary weighed in, not with a pick for the site, but with a comment on the potential speech itself.
The global problems generating from within the Muslim world today are so odious and so obviously self-inflicted that any honest speech on the matter would offend and enrage Muslims the world over. At the same time, because of these very problems, a softball speech about Islam’s current role in global affairs would look like cowardly capitulation. If Obama splits the difference and mixes lukewarm praise with lukewarm condemnation, the stunt will be seen rightly as meaningless.
Obama clearly wants closer ties to Islamic countries, for both foreign policy reasons and personal ones. But how will he handle further Islamic extremism? Does he think once he’s sworn in and speechifies from a carefully chosen Muslim capital that all will be sweetness and light? What, exactly, will it accomplish? But then, what will he do about the rampant anti-Semitism so clearly visible and so acceptable that the UN will sponsor another “notorious” anti-racism event like Durban? This isn’t “genteel” racism, done in code words or through suggestion. This is the real deal, where people regularly say in “polite society” that others do not have a right to live and are the source of all a region’s ills.
What will this post-racial President do? According to the writer at Forbes, another AA had a few words about this. Maybe he should lead the way.
When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You are talking anti-Semitism. –The Rev. Martin Luther King, 1968
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Obama is the first president since 1948 who will look at the Arab side of the issue involving Palestine and Israel. As much as it has been a disgrace to allow Palestinian refuge camps to exist and as much as I wish we could turn the clock back on the creation of Israel in the middle of Arabia the facts are that giving an inch to those that want to destroy Israel will cause the 2nd holocaust or worse.
I have often thought that the US policy was biased but now I know it is about survival of Israel, Western Civilization and the United states sphere of influence in the world.
Obama needs to understand that talking to those that want to destroy Israel means giving them the legitimacy to do just that.
You make it sound, Seattle Moss, as if the Arab countries are the victims here, that Israel was plopped down right in the middle of existing Arab countries and was responsible for the creation of the refugee camps. As a Jew, I’ve lived with these misconceptions my entire life, being accused more often than you might realize for the existence of the camps.
Where would you have created Israel? Jews have been living in that part of the world for as long as Arabs. And don’t forget that when Israel was declared a state in 1948, and immediately invaded by Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, and Iraq, 860,000 Jewish refugees were forced to leave those countries. The majority of those refugees remained in Israel and built new lives. The 70% of the Arab population that chose to flee to Arab states (most simply to avoid being caught in the cross fire of a battle) were not taken in by the Arab countries, instead being relegated to refugee camps in the hopes of creating world sympathy for the Arab countries.
I agree that there needs to be a solution (although I hardly think The Pretender is the one to find it). At this point, it’s too late to expect any of the Arab countries to step in and help the Palestinians out of poverty and into productive lives; their main focus is not the plight of the refugees but how they can use those refugees to destroy Israel. But can we please not blame Israel for a problem that was created by the Arabs?
And, as a Jew, the only excuse I can come up with for any Jew that voted for Obama, is that they drank the kool-aid, and when the effects wear off, they’ll be telling me I was right instead of accusing me of being angry and bitter.
All I know is Isreal is a democracy surrounded by 14th century theocracies. When one democracy is destroyed, all of them are in danger.
I know that israel doesn’t want all of us dead either. I don’t hear Israel calling Iran a “Stinking rotting sore”. I don’t hear them saying that they are going to eliminate everybody else in the middle east. I don’t hear them saying that I’m a freaking infidel who should convert or die either.
I’m sorry, but you don’t have to think too long to know where the savages are in this mess.
word. the choices are clear in this conflict.
Wasn’t it “stinking, rotting corpse?”
“All I know is Isreal is a democracy”
more like a democratic quasi theocracy.
RW….utter BS…If Israel was a quasi theocracy there would be no non-jews allowed in Jerusalem and the Temple would be rebuilt…sheeesh! The government is secular…And there are Muslims in the parliament ( not many…But then again there aren’t too many in ours either…ever wonder why given the divided loyalty thingy…sheeesh! )
Next your going to tell us Bedouins had indoor plumbing in the tents…and the Temple Mount was a Roman Barracks where the Prophet hitched his horse before his magical mystery tour….Aaaand the Crusades were simply a squabble over real estate and the Moors were never a threat to Europe….sheeesh!
Yes indeedy. The Arabs can build a Dubai but hold the Palestinians as pawns in their stupid game. Think of the rich life they could be living had their Arab brothers made their part of the desert bloom as Israel has.
American and Europeans are really building Dubby. Arabs just own the whole thing.
It’s all about a power grab. Instead of blaming thier own governments, they blame the “outsiders” instead. (ie. Israel, US, EU, Japan, even Russia for a while, etc) Maybe it’s easier to blame the outsiders. If anything it keeps the corrupt in power.
I don’t think there’s much the guy can do. If anything, this is just another instance of him grandstanding and giving his ardent people something to swoon over. It’s a PR stunt. And I’m tired of this constant advertisment. He’s making alot of money off of this. And like fools they’ll buy the damn buttons, shirts, mugs, hats, and dvds.
I would like to think that he actually gives a damn about peace in the middle east, but I don’t. I honestly don’t. I mean what are people expecting to happen? What? I don’t get it. All I see is the world spiraling downwards, and everyone keeps looking up for someone to rescue them- but no one is there. It’s as if people are willfully blind to what’s about to come. I know denial is comforting, but it’s also damaging.
This whole thing just makes me sick.
I have to ask this:
If Jews have been living in that part of the world as long as Arabs, why did Israel have to be created?
I ask this sincerely because I think the inception is where it all begins. As an outsider to the situation, in my mind it appears that Palestinians feel that the land was theirs and it was taken away. And there lies the problem as well as the reason the situation today is the result of what was done years ago.
I do agree there needs to be a solution and that 0bama is no Solomon. And yes the Arab world is exploiting the situation for all it’s worth. Too bad no one had the vision to see that this would naturally happen.
Dig deeper. If you read anything about archeology you will learn about the battles the Jews fought with their enemies years before the Bible history of Jesus.
And before the creation of Israel, Jews lived in the middle east among Muslims. It was just after World War II liberated the camps and most survivors had no homes to return to that Jews immigrated to their historic “homeland”. Would you really like to go back to the community that had helped slaughter your family?
The survivors who tried to immigrate to Israel were held in jail like conditions on Cyprus before the U.N. created the state of Israel from land donated from the British. Seems the history of Israel has gotten tangled and revised over the last few years. Guess it is easier to pick on the little guy than to take on the big British Empire who owned most of the Middle East.
Oh, and guess who trained the Israel Army; the very best of our very own Greatest Generation.
mimi…Check out the history. Romans drove out most of the surviving Jews in 70AD. But there have always been some Jews that stayed in Israel no matter who controlled the Land. Jews have been in Jerusalem throughout Occupying Empires…Romans, Christian, Muslim, and the British. They have confounded the genocidal intentions of other empires since the Babylonians and this is not just biblical mythology but backed up by archaeological fact.
The Jews have always survived as a people by utilyzing two remarkable and admirable innate charcteristics…Bonding tribally through history and the Torah..
Assimilation during the diaspora without losing their fundamental identity which bonds them together…It is a remarkable history of which we are all of us enriched by…imho
Jews preceded the Arabs…Who were Nomadic Bedouin Tribes….Jews have been in Israel at least as long as the Pharohs in Egypt. Archaeolgy backs this up…They were called Hebrews…They are mentioned in Egyptian,Greek,Assyrian,Babylonian and Roman chronicals. Folks are still trying to decipher the identities of others in Hebraic Text and from other ancient sources….
Israel was “plopped” in Arab lands, that’s the reason for the refugee camps. But don’t believe me, instead take time and research it yourself by reading all sides of the story, not just the Israeli and the US side.
This question/comment is for Seatle Moss and R2D2. First of all, I don’t like the term “plopped” into Arab lands. And that word has been used by several people here. WHERE WOULD YOU PUT AN ISRAELI STATE????? In ancuent times or Biblical times, Israelis (Hebrews) did live in Judea
Sorry for the partial comment above. My fingers are not working properly this morning and I did not know I hit the “send” button. Fingers are not awake yet!!! LOL
This question/comment is for Seattle Moss and R2D2. First of all, I don’t like the term “plopped” into Arab lands. And that word has been used by several people here over several different threads. WHERE WOULD YOU PUT AN ISRAELI STATE????? Or don’t you think the Israeli’s should have a state? Is that what you are really saying?
In ancient times and in Biblical times, Israelis (Hebrews) did live in this part of the world. The area was named named Judea at that time. The Hebrews lived there during the Egyptian era and they conqured the area when the Egyptian era ended.(Moses, David, King Soloman)
When the Romans conquered the land they renamed it Palestine. Sometime after the fall of the Roman Empire - my history us a bit foggy on the exact date - the Arabs conquered the area and lived there for hundreds and hundreds of years.
So both groups have a historical “claim” to that piece of real estate.
There have been various efforts over the centuries to create a country for the Israelis, some that even predate WWII and the Holocaust. The League of Nations and Britain were involved in those efforts.
After WWII and in the aftermath of the Holocaust, a state was created in this area by the UN. The country was created from land that has been claimed by many as their homeland for centuries. And each competing interest in the area has legitimate claims.
All of this is to say that no one just “plopped” anyone down anywhere. This is a centuries old issue or argument or war. And man’s meddling, despite good intemtions, has not helped. No one has been able to definitely end or solve the issue. I thought the Oslo Accords came the closest. No agreement seems to hold in that area of the world. Hatreds are just too deep.
A speech from a Muslin city by itself - even from the One - will end or even soften the positions of either side. In fact, it will do nothing except stroke the One’s huge ego. He thinks he can end this conflict with a speech!!! It is much more complicated than that and is going to take far more work to solve than a speech. Obama is so naive on this it boggles the mind.
Personally, I think Obama should stay at home and work on creating jobs and getting our financial mess straightened out.
well said, bert.
hmmm…are you speaking of Bedouin history…Because the Palestinian aboriginies were both Bedouin nomads and Jews living in the area since 70ad…By all means read the history…all sides and the fallacies become clear…and most of these are propaganda created by Muslims that have nothing to do with actual historical fact…sheeesh! Ever wonder WHY Muslims don’t want Israelis or anyone else to DIG archaeologically around the Temple Mount?….Because each time they dig up PROOF of Jewish Historical Residence Muslims have to come up with another LIE to disprove it….Anti-Jewish Christians that subscribe to Black Liberation Theology and Nation of Islam seek to take even the JEWISH IDENTITY OF JESUS away as part of the historical claim of JEWS to any natural and evolving bond with Christians that has been growing with recent efforts by the RCC and evangelists throughout America over the last 25 years.
my now ex boyfriend is a Jew and he voted for Obama. I have just never been able to understand it. Of course, he could never understand why I wouldn’t vote for Obama. I explained it until I was blue in the face. He called me angry and bitter as well. I’d love to know what he thought about the Blagojevich scandal since I told him about all of that, of course my version leads right to Obama and Senate 1332. I hope that Fitzgerald’s version does, too. Anyway, the Jew ex thought Barky is a nice guy who I misunderstood and I saw my ex as living in a fantasy land. That is why we’re exes now. Oh, well. I will be vindicated soon.
Obama won 70% to 80% of the Jewish vote. 70% to 80% of Jewish Americans are not living in a “fantasy land”. Maybe you should have more respect for people that have different viewpoints than you. My wife is a Republican and I am a Democrat- This causes us zero problems.
obama is tight …..sweeeeet! all you haters need to recognizes that he did somthing with his life and became president if our great nation and some people that dont even have jobs
My soon to be ex-husband Jewish and he voted for Obama because he “can’t stand” McCain. Well, he certainly is entitled to his own opinion/vote, but I have a feeling that it won’t be too long before he “can’t stand” Barky . . .
There are bigger issues ordinary people are facing today in this country–like the fact that The American Dream is dying. But Obama wants to be able to give another mountain top speech to his constituancy — THE WHOLE WORLD. There are those who seek greatness, those who are great and those who have greatness thrust upon them. Obama however, has to pretend he’s great to keep from doing the hard work the American people elected him to do.
Hmmmm….Muslims have been propagandizing Israel by seeking to eliminate any and all claims JEWS have to Israel and this is lunacy. Muslim children are taught some of the most INSANE BULL SHIT about Jewish history…Like the Temple Mount was really a Roman Barracks…sheeesh! Anti-Semitic/Zionism is on the rise GLOBALLY.
Personally…We (non Jews ) that are not in Israel don’t have much of a clue…really and as Americans we have not had to defend our own shores/people from obliteration as we have been able to keep large conflicts away from our own shores. Dividing Jerusalem is the INSANE demand that has held up the peace process and as far as I can see almost every time there is hope in sight another extremist ( usually Palestinian ) lobs another BOMB into a bus.
Blaming JEWS is one of the oldest and easiest excuses. And OIL speaks volumes…imho…
When seen in proper context…Israel has defended herself against overwhelming odds…And to blame her for that is to apply a standard unfairly that given the recent history of the survival of JEWS is imho tatamount to supporting a philosophy that the West swore would end after WWWII…
Israel as a Jewish Homeland is a reality…Jerusalem as the capital is a reality…The Palestinians have been offered a solution…They just want it all and other Muslim countries exploit the issue for their own benefit….sheeesh!
Truth is..The Jewish diaspora ongoing since 70ad ended when the Nation of Israel came into being after WWWII…And JEWS are not responsible for Muslim extremism…They are just the current excuse.
Wait until the Jews in this country who voted for Fraudbama get the slap in the face.
And that slap will be their wake up call.
Jews are getting nervous as Anti-Jewish sentiment is on the rise globally…*sigh*
Who knows what The O will do. He was a member of anti Semitic church for 20 yrs and “palled around” with Farrakhan; listened to Brzezinski (no friend of Israel), hired Jim Jones (no friend of Israel), Susan Rice and Samantha Powers (no friends of Israel) and then hired Emmanuel and Clinton who are friends of Israel.
When Emmanuel was announced as Chief of Staff the so-called leftist supporters of O went crazy with Anti-Semitic vitriol on all their blogs.
I am a big supporter of Israel. And Seattle Moss, my grandmother was born in Jerusalem in the 19th century and yes, Israel had a right to become a state where it is….but I also favor a state for the Palestinians. Part of the reason that the Palestinians have been in limbo all these yrs is that is has been a convenient scapegoat for despotic Arab/Persian/Muslim governments to avoid reform in their own countries.
However, it is naive to the extreme, to think that all the Islamic extremists are going to sing kumbaya when a Palestinian state is established or if Obama makes a speech somewhere.
I will never forgive Obama for painting the Clintons as racist. Once that was established in the media ANY questioning of the GREAT ONE was framed as racist.
You should have seen the anti jew filth that was posted at mybarackobama. Anti Jew, anti woman hating crowd of beasts is what blogged there.
bayareavoter, I too would like to see a Palestininan state. But even if one is ever created, it will not stop Arab hatred of Isreal. And Isreal has an absolute right to exist. So this issue will be one that vexes the world for ages.
Bert…Until the Palestinians give up the idea of Jerusalem as their capital…This will not happen…
And until Muslims accept that actual History does not jive with their own propaganda…They will continue to hate the Jews…It is the only cause that currently rallys the extremists so it is useful to the puppeteers…
imho…Islam is on the verge of undergoing a long delayed reformation which happened in European Christendom.This may be part of the underlying motive of the Puppeteers…since a reformation is a natural consequence of increased education. Once started…it is hard to stuff that genie back into a bottle…Ask the Catholic Church…chuckle…
It is the natural course of things in the West…imho…another bump in the ongoing cultural clash of The West and the East…
workingclassartist - Jerusalem is a very big sticking point indeed. And now we introduce another layer I did not even mention in my original comments. The three major world religions claim Jerusalem as ‘theirs’ - Jews, Christians, and Muslims.
For the life of me, I cannot figure out why American Jews supported Obama after the duplicitous positions he took and his own personal history with Jew-hating mentors.
A mystery.
I’m not a Jew but I certainly realize the importance of Israel’s survivial. As a nation, Israel is surrounded by sharks. So, of course, they’re going to take a defensive, military posture. Have our policies been Israel biased. Yes, but with good reason–you don’t turn your back on an ally.
I think most people want to see an Israeli/Palistinian solution, but as others have said, not at the cost of Israel’s extinction. A good-faith treaty is desperately needed. I have no reason to believe that Obama can get the regional players there. But certainly, he will need to try. I’m somewhat encouraged that Hillary Clinton will have input as SOS. But there’s only so much she can do.
And bayareavoter, I feel the same way:
“I will never forgive Obama for painting the Clintons as racist. Once that was established in the media ANY questioning of the GREAT ONE was framed as racist.”
That’s the corner the Obamatrons and the press have pushed us into. And mustering any trust in these people is going to be a long, hard haul.
Lisab-good post.
If I had the chance to interview Barack Obama about the ‘Racism’ issue -here are some questions I would have asked him:
1- Sir, why were you and your staff always bringing up race in this race?
2- Is it true that you supported 3rd ward Ald. Dorothy Tillman in her runoff (which she ultimately lost) against independent Pat Dowell” last year?
http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obamacommentary/309639,CST-EDT-MILL23.stng#
SunTimes Commentary- “Will 3rd Ward politics affect Obama’s presidential race? ” by Rich Miller 3/23/07
Ms Tillman has an impressive record in the civil rights movement-no doubt.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Tillman
She is also one of the leading and outspoken U.S advocates of reparations for slavery.
3- What is your position on reparations for slavery in the U.S?
4- What about reparations for slavery from western, ex-colonial powers for Africa and African nations? I understand that during the 2001 UN-sponsored World Conference against Racism, many African nations demanded an apology-plus other things- from ex-colonial European nations for the role they (European nations) had in promoting the slave trade.
http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/africa/09/01/durban.slavery/index.html
“Africa calls for slavery apology” , cnn.com, 9/0/01
“DURBAN, South Africa — African leaders have called on the U.S. and Europe to apologize for their part in the colonial slave trade but are divided on whether to insist on reparations.”
5- Sir, what is your opinion on this?
Well, I can tell you what my opinion on this is, athy. If the Obama administration starts singing reparations, they’ll be swept out of office in 2012.
How far back should we go, btw? I’m an Irish Catholic. Should I demand reparations from our former English overseers? How about those whose ancestors came over as indentured servants? Do they get a piece of the pie, too??
This is a nonstarter, an excuse to turn over treasure, our treasure on demand. It won’t fly. In fact, this nonsense could spark another Civil War.
I’m hoping even the most entranced Obamatrons would blink on this one.
I’m sure someone, somewhere wrong my ancestors at some point in history. I am of German and Swedish decent. I am also a woman and was denied the right to vote until long after the bros. I want reparations as well.
Oh hell yes — women should raise up and demand reparations. Denied the right to vote and we don’t even have the ERA.
Of course the US has sided with the most extreme misogynistic countries regarding women’s issues with GWB on the throne — and I expect the racist 0zero will continue this practice.
But then he just may let this slide and have Hillary handle it. So when his major donors complain — he can blame Hillary.
Yeah, let’s get gender reparations out there. The cost is staggering. Deleveraging would look like a burst of economic growth in comparison with settling gender accounts.
PUMA!!!
Bottom line…
If you ain’t black, you don’t get jack.
My ancestors came here in the early 1900’s from Europe as poor immigrants. We were not part of slavery but Obama’s mama’s ancestors owned slaves. Do I get reparations for being blamed for slavery? Should my family apologize for something we were not a part of?
My granny had to escape Fascist Bennito Mussolini and cross over by boat to America. Who’s the victim?
Racism. It’s all in your head. It’s how you want to perceive it all.
Queen Lizzie ows me a Potato Farm in Ireland….chuckle…But I’ll settle for Stock in Guiness…or a car..
I must demand reparations for the starvation and loss of my family’s farms due to Sherman’s march through Georgia (not slave owners).
And, since Obama’s African Arab ancestors were slave traders, I think he should apologize for his family involvement (according to Louis, it’s what your Daddy did that makes you liable).
Peggy Sue, there is no treasure any more. We are broke. So Obama’s wet dream is fantasy on this issue. Well, actually, on a lot of issues. But that is a different story.
I have only one question for Obama.
Where is the irrefutable proof that you are a US citizen?
Obama’s too blinded by his own image to ever be truthful about racism.
He’s not a citizen of USA. He needs to be shipped back to
thuglandChicago.Anti racism? Don’t make me laugh.
Obama is a descendant of an African who was not transported anywhere as a slave. Obama’s own father has Arab roots among which are purported to be slave traders.
He mother was white. Obama and his wife brag of their family relationship to Cheney, Bush, and Rumsfeld. Their Kenyan relatives are muzzled and barely acknowledged.
Obama took money from a slumlord (Rezko) that let black folks in Chicago in live substandard conditions. Rezko made millions. Obama got a mansion out of the deal. The black folks? Nada.
No family member has participated in the Civil Rights movement. Unless you count the fact that Obama claimed he born due to the March on Selma when he was actually born three years earlier. Not one media outlet called him on that blatant lie. Unless it was true and he’s lying about his age and when he was born.
Soros has already appeared on Fox and said in no uncertain terms that Obama owes him.
But let’s not talk all of about that.
“But let’s not talk about all of that”. Rented fingers.
Seattle Moss:
Arabia?
Excuse me but Israel and and has every right to exist exactly where it is from every viewpoint including the obvious historic one.
cirrection:
Excuse me but Israel HAD and has every right to exist exactly where it is from every viewpoint including the obvious historic one.
I wish to express my sincere thanks to all of those who seek to uphold the Constitution of the United States. In particular, Mr. Berg, Mr. Donofrio, Ambassador Dr. Alan Keyes, and so many others. Thanks.
It seems to me, in my humble opinion, that this is not so much about the definition of natural born citizen, but rather the implementation of the Constitutional requirement that the President of the United States be a natural born citizen. And, it is of grave importance that this issue of whether Mr. Barack Hussein Obama is a natural born citizen, or not, be settled immediately.
We live in a country where the law is paramount and the Constitution of the U.S. is the supreme law. If there are those who wish to change the Constitution, they must do it by amendment not by usurping the power of the government.
Mr. Obama must not be allowed to serve in any way without first providing that which the Constitution requires; that is, proof that Mr. Obama is a natural born citizen. Otherwise, Mr. Obama would be a usurper, without justification and without power or authority. It would be a high crime and treason.
Note: Mr. Obama’s website states that he is a “native born citizen.” Go figure. The Constitution requires that the President of the U.S. be a “natural born citizen.” Must do.
FYI
http://theobamafile.com/ObamaLatest.htm
http://naturalborncitizen.wordpress.com/
LisaB:
Thank you for this important and timely post.
I still remember Durban-I; the “anti-racisim” turn anti-Israel fest that got so bad that Powell walked out of it (and I admired Powell for that). Maybe there was a reason for DurbanI but I see no reason for DurbanII given its agenda.
What BO does will certainly be a measure of what type of Potus. So the question is will he do the right thing re. DurbanII; ie. will he stand up, say that the pretext for Durban II is lacking and boycott it?
For all my dislike of GWB, he stood against virulent anti-semitism and I am glad to learn that the State Dept. under his Adm. announced the decision to withhold the U.S. portion of the $6.8 million expected costs for Durban II. Israel and Canada are boycotting it and so should the United States.
What will Obama do about the rampant sexism in the islamc countries??? Anyone?
Same thing he has done about it here??
What do you want him to do?
Let’s see–how about he resigns for the good of the country, troll? Now run along, dee-doo.
I want he gets decency enough to denounce sexism.That’s what I want even I believe he hasn’t any at all
my guess is he will not do so much as utter a single word about sexism. or if he does, that will be as far as it goes.
Many of these Arab countries, such as Saudi Arabia, have HORRIBLE human rights abuses, and they treat women like trash.
[...] excellent commentary on this by Lisa B at No Quarter But how will he handle further Islamic extremism? Does he think once he’s sworn in and [...]
obama can speechify all he likes. some of the crowds will cheer. but the leaders will snicker while they give the good ole usa a knife in the back. and the militants? they know a weak man when they see one.
[...] Obama’s First Anti-Racism Test as President [UPDATE] : NO QUARTER I’m somewhat encouraged that Hillary Clinton will have input as SOS. But there’s only so much she can do. And bayareavoter, I feel the same way:. “I will never forgive Obama for painting the Clintons as racist. Once that was established … [...]
OFraudObama sucks!
Seattle Moss, next time you’re at a library you may want to check out Mark Twain’s “Innocents Abroad.”
This anti-racism conferences seems to be by partisans who want to gain respectability . This is a slanderous event to find new partisan politics using the impartial image of UN .
It will be a big test for Barack Obama if he can act with the courage of Colin Powel, or if he goes with the partisans.
Hi
It appears that there will NOT be a Durban II
http://www.thetimes.co.za/PrintArticle.aspx?ID=758479
The fisrt and ugkliest RACISM, the UN (or anyone else) should denounce is ARAB RACISM, ARABISM = RACSIM!, against all non-Arab groups including:
Against Kurds (in Iraq or in Oppressive Syria, Berbers (in N. Africa), against Jews (not only in Israel by racist Arab terrorists, but all over in the middle east (where some Jews survived the expulsion by Arab countries of the 1948, d in Europe today as well, racist attack by Arabs against ORDINARY Jews), against Africans (including slavery in Sudan and in Mauritania, the biggest calamaty today is in fact the Arab genocide on Africans in Darfur…), against Asians (the workers are practically slaves [sex or othersise] in Arabia…), Against Persians, against Al Akhdam in Yemen, etc.
http://geocities.com/jihadipedia/Arabism
So is it ok now to use the President elect middle name Hussein? I know a lot of fuss was made during the election by the media if anyone called him Hussein, but since he now seems to be so proud of his middle name and his Muslim roots, is it now alright to call Barack Hussein also?
I really feel think Americans were so hoodwinked into this election, my view was Obama had a deeper Muslim connection that was reported, I still feel that way, and all this middle name swearing in, his giving a major speech in some Arab country to make Muslim love us to me is just nonsense.
Obama is doing exactly what he always wanted to do, go to his roots and show the Muslim word that one of them is now President of the USA.
Now why would Christian Soertro/Obama think all he would have to do is give a speech to Middle East terrorists and they would agree to lay down their arms when George W. Bush, who did have a close association with Saudi Arabia, couldn’t get anything accomplished?
Mystery man Soertoro/Obama has a Napoleon complex of gigantic proportions! The only difference I can see is that Napoleon fought to conquer the known world while Soertoro, aka Obama, dreams he has conquered
Good question I really wonder why its so important to this non Muslim man that felt so insulted if anyone hinted he had Muslim ties during the election now feel this is first order of business, a major event that he need to do as POTUS.
Only thing I can come up with is maybe he feels as one Muslim to another they will quicker listen to him than any other, the sad thing is that maybe he lied to the American people just to get where he is today.
Is it not ironic that Bush fought for years against these Muslim terrorists that burnt our flags, killed our people, and we may well now have elected one of them into the greatest position in the world President of our beloved country.
Because he’s not just any crusader. He’s the “Caped Crusader!”
What will he do? He’ll do what he always does when things get tough. He’ll vote “present.”
“in my mind it appears that Palestinians feel that the land was theirs and it was taken away.”
It’s not just in your mind, or theirs. It is historical fact, although one that many would like to conveniently make disappear. The theft of Palestinian lands and the ethnic cleansing of native Palestinians is historical fact, well documented, and denied by people whose claims to historical accuracy or knowledge can only be compared to those who deny the Holocaust.
These claims have the same historical legitimacy that Holocaust denial does: None. Even pro-Zionist historians accept this fact, but justify it as “necessary” to “protect Israel from its enemies,” in the same way that Israel’s current apartheid system is justified. (Ever wonder why Israel was the only Western country to continue selling arms to South Africa, and why Nelson Mandela said Israel is morally comparable to apartheid South Africa?)
When Israel was created, ethnic cleansing was an openly used tactic, embraced by all of Israel’s early leaders and tacitly condoned by the U.N., the U.S., and much of Europe. The native population of Palestinians was almost completely wiped out and their lands confiscated. Arab countries realized too late what was going on, and their efforts to help the Palestinians were ineffectual.
The UN has stated for 60 years that Palestinian refugees have the right of return to their former land. Israel’s current policies hold that a Jewish person from New Jersey whose family never set foot in Israel can “return to their native land,” i.e. Israel, but a Palestinian farmer whose land and home were stolen 60 years ago cannot. Israel talks about a “refugee” problem without ever once acknowledging that it created the refugee problem using theft, massacres, land confiscation, and ethnic cleansing, nor does it ever acknowledge the UN resolution or any other international human rights laws that it routinely breaks.
I am not Israeli, never been to there, but the accusation in this post is overblown. The Israeli policies may be biased in favour of jewish people, but the “theft” is not comparable anywhere to devil Holocaust.
Since muslims exist in Jerusalem, I assume “theft” is different from being blasted away with suicide bombers. The reality developers do that all the times, buy land from rural communities… Here, the effort might be more than the reality developers, but still “theft” appears to be different than suicide bombers.
Post 2000, there have been two/three major ethnic cleansing - One visible being - The people of serbia culture are driven out of Kosovo. Does one see international and UN conferences hizacked for this ? The real resentment seems to be what was done with Israel - Today, It is an influential country with a political base. The source of Palestein sentiment in far away countries may be right here - Political and ideological threat perceived by presence of Israel.
I enjoyed the discussion on this thread. I have a question for President Obama (if he ever gets that far with all the law suits dogging his trail; I can dream, can’t I?):
In your anticipated speech to reboot America’s image in a hostile world to a skeptical audience, will you address the burning issue of Sharia Law, imposed generally throughout Islam?
[...] Obama’s First Anti-Racism Test as President [UPDATE] : NO QUARTER Billed as an effort to fight racism, that Durban conclave focused instead on vilifying Israel–whipping up hatred to such an extreme that then- Secretary of State Colin Powell ordered the U.S. delegation to walk out. … [...]
Hey he could stop by the middle east for dinner and maybe get to watch them shoot some broad in the head. No sense of mentioning anything to them though. It’s just a woman.
I’ll respect them when they respect me. Which could mean never.
Funny about the Hussein. nobody could BREATHE his middle name when he was running. It was racist or some such shit. Now he’s suddenly all proud as can be.
Matthew 24- For False Christs and false prophets will arise and will give great signs and wonders so as to mislead:>
He believes that he is the one that will bring the muslim to change their minds and accept the teaching of Christ. This man is on some kind of pipe dream. He needs to sit down and read about Islam. They will see happiness until every jew and christian is dead. This is their teachings and their bible. The worst thing that can happen is right after this speech - hundreds of innocent lives will be bombed. The radicals have ONE agenda- to destroy christians. Obama is not the second coming of Christ- for Yeshua is the only one that can stop them. Period! Good luck with the impossible dream!