When I first moved back from Miami to Jordan my friends used to ask me why Americans reelected G W Bush again? I used to tell them that many Americans are against the war in Iraq and against the way the US government is handling the war in Afghanistan, Americans are not pleased with the Republicans or the way they sold the war to the American People. Americans are not dumb, they are smart people. I added, the American people couldn’t afford a new president like John Kerry to handle the war and the threat of terrorism, I personally never thought John Kerry was appealing to anyone and I would never elect him while I’m a pro Democrat myself.
But things have proven me right 4 years later. The American people have made the right choice, they have not only chosen a president from the Democratic Party but an African American to lead them to the right direction. African Americans and Hispanics have by no doubt voted for Obama because of his skin color and for being a minority, but there was also a huge number of Caucasians, new voters, and Republicans who endorsed and voted for Obama. This year alone there were more than new 5 million Hispanics voters than what was 8 years ago.
Despite all the anticipation and excitement about Obama, I have my reservations about appointing his new Chief of Staff Rahm Israel Emanuel (The name itself raises many eyebrows). Here are some interesting facts I found about Rahm:
1. He is an Israeli citizen born in Chicago, Illinois.
2. He is the son of Benjamin M. Emanuel, who was a member of the Irgun, a Jewish terrorist group which operated from 1931 to 1948 during the British Mandate of Palestine. [Oh so there was a nation and people before the creation of Israel and guess what, it was called Palestine]
3. Instead of serving his country in the First Gulf War, Rahm was a civilian volunteer in the Israel Defense Forces during the 1991 War.
4. One of his proudest moments during the Clinton administration "was an event that touched his political sensibilities and his personal ties to Israel: the 1993 Rose Garden signing ceremony after the Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization ("PLO"). Emanuel directed the details of the ceremony, down to the choreography of the famous handshake between Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat."
5. He mailed a rotten fish to a former coworker after the two parted ways.
6. According to The Nation, Rahm is "seen as a strong Israel partisan.” In June 2007, he condemned an outbreak of Palestinian violence in the Gaza Strip and criticized Arab countries for not applying the same kind of pressure on the Palestinians as they have on Israel. [Yeah right, what is violence can we be more specific here and define who is the being opressed and who is the opressor?]
This might be one of Obama’s tactics to have a diverse Staff in the White House or perhaps he seems something in him other than my concerns in Rahm. But I don’t want to see the new Chief of Staff implementing his own personal agenda or worse, an Israeli agenda that will not only damage America’s image in the region but around the World. For now, I’ll be an observer and get those conspiracy theories out of my head, at least this time we actually have a president who reads and watches the News.
For now, I’m still asking myself how did America keep up with G W Bush for 8 years?!
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17 comments:
Ali, Thanks for your comment on my blog. Lately I've been getting trolls and I've finally had enough.
I wanted to know what you thought of Rahm Emanual. Yes, I know of the dead fish---I think Rahm might be the Luca Brasi to Obama the Godfather (did you see those films?) Anyway, more to come--I'm at work right now. But either Rahm is a smart realpolitik move for Obama, or it is a bad sign of relations between Israel and Palestine. I actually met Rahm as he comes from my city. He is not a warm and fuzzy person--his campaign headquarters were near my job. He is very powerful in Washington, very. He is also super rich, so Obama didn't tempt him with money. He also loves power and hoped to be the Speaker of the House.
So why did he accept? My guess is the power. It also solves the Israel is doomed crowd which does exist in my country.
More later.
I thought about you when I heard the news!
I think your name is the first thing that popped into my head.
I'm guessing it's about diversity. Hopefully, he'll have someone else to balance it all out.
About Bush--Why did we put up with him for 8 years?
1. Bush actually lost the election in 2000 as you probably know--Gore had the popular vote, but Bush's brother, Jeb, did some fast shooting with votes in Florida. There were entire districts that did not have their votes counted. Some of the votes were tossed out. There was also a strange setup on the Florida ballot in which people thought they were voting for Gore, but ended up voting for Pat Buchanan. Any third party vote helped Bush, including the Nader voters, may they forever be cursed. So the Supreme Court decided the election: Scalia gets the credit for the decision, but it was really Clarence Thomas who helped get George Bush into the White House.
2. 2004--I believe that another candidate besides Kerry could have beaten Bush. No one liked Kerry, but the theme was Anybody but Bush and Kerry was anybody. A lot of people tried to increase voter registration, and it was the first time that Bruce Springsteen actually took a political stance and organized concerts for Kerry/against Bush. Springsteen is practically worshipped on the East Coast, and in certain parts of the Midwest. I thought that would help Kerry immensely, and it would have helped a good candidate, but Kerry was a lousy one.
There are some conspiriacy theories that I actually believe: Kerry got the nomination deliberately so that Bush could win. The circumstancial evidence is overwhelming. Kerry, who served honorably in 'Nam, allowed himself to be attacked on his service record; he didn't fight the Swift Boat advocates who Bush allegedly did not fund, and that was stupid. Bush got out of active duty during the war; he used his father so that he could get light work. Kerry didn't bring that up and he should have.
Kerry only discussed the stupidity of the Iraqi War during the debates. His voting record on the war was so uneven that the flip flop accusations were justified. How do you vote for a war and then vote against funding it? The man is an idiot. All the Dems of consequence voted for that horrible war, so they all stink, but Kerry looked even stupider than most. Kerry also has the habit (see 2006 elections) of saying stupid things to annoy Bush's base and rev them up into voting. He insulted Iraqi soldiers a few days before the 2006 elections. The Dems won anyway, but it was so ignorant--any veteran knows that you NEVER attack a soldier when your country is at war, even if the war is sheer barbarism as the Iraqi War is. Some Americans really saw it as a war against terrorism--yep.
Finally, Bush stayed because he seemed tough, determined, the economy hadn't failed, he acted like one of us folks despite the silver spoon (I couldn't get into Yale and I actually got good grades). People felt safe with Bush. He also was adored by the evangelicals: I will share one remark that is telling and then I will stop eating up your comment space: A woman was asked about Bush--did she support him (2004)? Yes, she did. Then she was asked: but look at all the awful things people are accusing him of? Her answer: "They did the same thing to Our Lord." Bush became Christ. What do you do with people who see him as Jesus?
My friend, sometimes we are so naive.
Hiring of Rahm was expected. It's pay back time. who funded most of Obama's campaign? yes AIPAC. Rahm is one of its leading board members.
if you read the speech Obama delivered to AIPAC, you will feel sick. wanted to spit on it. Pathetic.
Its all about pandering my friend. Obama is just another american leader, in black skin this time.
Its shameful that arab men are putting all the effort to track Obama's success and votes, while their countries need this attention the most, and while Gaza, a place so neglected by Obama's love speech to Israel, is still suffering daily power outage.
the state of arab online bloggers ad media in general towards Obama's election is seriously pathetic. go to the gym do a nice workout or something. Its alot worthy for your time, trust me.
I wouldn't worry about him being an obstacle to peace. They need him more for domestic issues. He's going to be the whip and keep the party from going to far to the left.
Ricardo, I think he can be an obstacle if he will be working on a personal, relegion based agenda. Meaning if he blindly supports Israel without baring in mind the Palestinian misery living conditions and the Peace Process
Bilal, I hear negaivity in your tone. We Arabs should be proactive, and make our voices of moderation being heard everywhere. Id rather be hopeful about Obama (which is a personal opinion)and mae sure that my fellow Ameicans know tat instead of having some wiered ugly extremist threatining to kill anyone on TV. So yes, I will not go to the gym and spend my time reaching to non Arabs. You might think this is naive to do so, but Im a strong beliver for having an open dialogue. Thanks for your comment
Dina, that's nice ;)
EOR, in 2000, Bush wasn't even elected, what a shame. In 2004, I was expcing Bush to win, Kerry was just too weak and persoanly attacked Bush instead of having a real strategy for the Americna people
well, first i didnt say i am not open to dialogue. re read my comment.
Secondly, i lived in the US like u did, maybe even longer. So i know how to reach to non-arab friends. always did.
thirdly, i am not a supporter of American leaders who pander to AIPAC. its a lost case anyway. but i respect and admire your stance towards obama. i wish you and him all the luck.
We are witnessing the new era of a multi-polar world. hopefully there will be some balance and change in the future, not because of Obama,i doubt, but because of this whole new era.
like what ricardo pointed out, they need him more for domestic issues.
Lastly, sorry i sound negative, but a workout at the gym is *personally* way more important than watching you or most of arab bloggers spending the night tracking Obama's success. because with his support or without, I dont think I am capable or ready to lose an inch of Gaza or Palestine. neither the families of Palestine.
instead of calling upon an american leader -with a lost case- to change your arab world, i wish you'd track and call upon your fellow arab friends HERE in jordan to start taking voting seriously, and start pushing for genuine real reforms and putting all the effort u are putting on presenting good candidates for our parliament, because u know what? change of arabs should and will start from within.
and good luck in your radio show interview btw :)
Emanuel isn't an Israeli citizen.
You Arabs are so pathetic and paranoid.
No, Mossad, you are incorrect--Rahm was not born in Israel, but had dual citizenship with the US and Israel.
My mother is English and she had to decide on whether I had dual citizenship in England and the States. She chose not to, but I did have the option when I was 18 to become British as I was legally on British soil in utero. Each country is different.
My mistake--Rahm is NO LONGER a citizen of Israel; he renounced it when he turned 18. So in the present tense, you are correct.
However, it does beg the question: why does it matter that he isn't a citizen of Israel? Why does that make you conclude that all Arabs are pathetic? I fail to see the correlation.
Arabs are pathetic because they live in a fantasy world where everything is a conspiracy and they never bear any blame.
How sad and delusional.
Well, I guess you told me...
No other culture/ethnicity but Arabs think this way--absolutely none?
No other?
In my country, such blanket statements are called racist. And we have a long history of racism. I guess that means all Americans are racists as well as idiots.
Only the Sith deals in absolutes. Sorry to repeat myself.
EOR, it's very obvious that Mosad and anonymuos are racist to the bone and they do not serve the purpose of my blog. If you guys are here just to insult Arabs or any natoin or relegion then you are not welcome here, any insulting comments will be deleted. You give Jews a bad name because I met many who are great and kind people. You are welcome here for dialouge only.
Guys, why are you against mossad or anonymous?
yes they are saying something negative, but isnt it true?
Arabs, and I am one of them, are pathetic indeed. you definitely know we are pathetic when we reach to a leader that has no ties to us whatsoever, to solve our problems and our delusions.
Oh, he is father is muslim, and he is dark not white! SO WHAT?? most of corrupt arab leaders are muslims anyway and they are doing horrible things to arabs more than any other "Foreign" Leader is doing.
you definitely know we are pathetic when you anxiously want to open a "dialogue" with a leader who doesn't believe in your right of return or right of land to begin with.
you know we are pathetic when you stay awake all night following the electoral college of the united states during elections, but fail to follow the lives of Gazans under siege.
I am not saying you are not pro-palestine, i know u r, we always talk about it when we meet and such. and you constantly post about it. but please, I beg you to really look out of the box back at us, rather look from the box out at others.
I am glad this internet and blogging really took off in the middle east. it is this time where we can all connect and solidify with the Palestinian cause and right like never before.
With or without an American leader, the world is so connected now that the influence of people is way greater than his Oval office.
Bilal, those people I blocked were not saying negative things but speading hate and wrong historical facts and bashing Arabs and the faith of Muslims, now this is something I wont accept. If you think watching the elections in the US was a waste of time, then this is your opinion, everyone of us has his/her own reason to follow it or not.
I think the internet in general is a great resource of information for westerners and arabs and there are many blogs out there that cover the daily sufferings of Palestinians and especialy in Gaza, you can check the links in my blog.
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