88 Keys in Cuba: Part Two

Ali Abunimah, Washington Times, 13 November 2008

Sons are not responsible for the racism of their fathers. But they do have a responsibility to let others know that they disagree vehemently with such sentiments. This is certainly the case for individuals in public service, particularly the man President-elect Barack Obama has chosen as White House chief of staff. Yet, Rep. Rahm Emanuel has not said a word regarding the troubling statement his father made to the Israeli newspaper Ma’ariv.

In a recent interview, Dr. Benjamin Emanuel asserted that his son’s appointment would be beneficial to Israel. “Obviously he will influence the president to be pro-Israel,” the elder Emanuel said, according to the Jerusalem Post. “Why wouldn’t he be? What is he, an Arab? He’s not going to clean the floors of the White House.”

The public has a right to expect Mr. Emanuel to reject such raw racism especially given the historic resonance of Mr. Obama’s victory. It’s especially important for Arab and Muslim Americans who came through the election campaign feeling they are the last group of Americans who can still be publicly denigrated.

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Tony Iltis interviewed on Iranian television

By Tony Iltis

November 7, 2008 — Despite Western media and politicians having largely ignored a decade of genocidal warfare that has cost 6 million lives, the recent upsurge in fighting in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has drawn not only media attention, but visits to the region by the British and French foreign ministers and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.

The current round of fighting in North Kivu province, which began on October 26 with an offensive by the Rwandan-backed rebel forces of General Laurent Nkunda, is indeed a humanitarian catastrophe — 200,000 people have been displaced, many not for the first time.

Refugee camps have been burned. There has been widespread looting, rape and murder by both government troops and Nkunda’s rebels, as well as by other militias involved in the fighting.

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Palestinian boys showing the Free Gaza passengers the lakes of untreated sewerage inside Gaza.

photo via freegazaorg’s photostream

Journalists Denied entrance to Gaza
For Immediate Release Date : 11-10-2008

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The naming of Rahm Emanuel to White House Chief of Staff is a strategic move to keep congressional Democrats from drifting into lefty land where marginalised tokens hold occasional press conferences. According to some Republicans Obama’s promise to reach across the aisle is shattered since Emanuel is a mad dog liberal. It could be Obama serving notice he won’t be an honest broker between Israelis and Palestinians or is yet another demonstration of unwavering fealty to the concept of a Greater Israel under the advisement of right Zionist Dennis Ross. Emanuel stated he was reluctant to accept the position because it would divert him from becoming House Speaker. Could one reason that Obama chose the foul-mouthed, ill-tempered brute be to reward Pelosi for her help during the primaries?

It’s alarming that the President-elect and his wife could forge a union with a family of terrorists that’s a patriarch who delivers lines like this:

“Obviously he [Rahm] will influence the president to be pro-Israel… Why wouldn’t he be [influential]? What is he, an Arab? He’s not going to clean the floors of the White House.”

Grant Smith draws parallels between Obama and Kennedy recalling consequences to sharing the most sensitive of intelligence with persons of dual loyalties:

Rahm Emanuel Chief of Staff