Obama's Closeness to Rev.Wright Still A Problem

Even after Barak Obama delivered his race speech, A More Perfect Union most of us remain unconvinced of any widening gap that exists between him and his controversial Pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Despite his overused "words of unity" between whites and blacks Obama still oversteps the main point about his pastor. Rev. Wright does not want unity with white people. Obama and his pastor stand worlds apart on this issue. Barak Obama will not recognize that his pastor does not bring a positive influence on the black community nor the overall community of American people.

My question is, "How can Obama speak of racial unity out of one side of his mouth and then closely embrace a spiritual mentor who delivers now widely publicized sermons contrary to any kind of racial unity?" Rev. Wright has been called a racist and a man who sweats anger towards whites. And this is Obama's spiritual mentor? As long as Barak keeps reaffirming the relationship he has with his former pastor, doubts will be raised as to what truly floats around in the mind of Barak Obama?

Listen to Obama's words about racism in America as depicted in his recent speech:

I chose to run for the presidency at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together - unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes . . . This belief comes from my unyielding faith in the decency and generosity of the American people.

Rev. Wright does not have a faith in the "decency of the American people." He said in one of his sermons that America is the "U.S. of KKK." This "man of God" does not want to end racism but to keep it going because it serves his purpose of keep the black community in a place of a perceived victimization to the "rich while man" as epitomized in the pastor's disparaging remarks about the well-to-do Hillary Clinton. The last time I listened to a democrat praise the Clinton's, Hillary's husband was tagged as America's "first black president."

Obama also remarked that the decency of America (which includes white people) made it possible for him to have his own" American story." Pastor Wright does not believe that! Rev. Wright preaches the gospel of black anger towards the white man.

But Rev. Wright led Obama to Christ, according to the Senator, and because of that Barak cannot disown him. He's like family. However, Wright is family by choice not by blood, so Obama has the ability to place a huge chasm between himself and his pastor.

I won't argue that God used Jeremiah Wright to guide Barak to Jesus, but that was twenty years ago. Since then Rev. Wright has gotten off track. Where is Jesus in his message now? Could he lead Obama to Jesus today or steer him to more anger and hostility towards white people and the U.S.

As long as Rev. Wright preaches this message of animosity towards white people, Republicans, the U.S. government and any black man or woman who is not a liberal democrat (Clarence Thomas, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice), how can Obama not take a giant step away from his former pastor? How can he not disavow a man who once preached a message that honored Christ but has taken a detour of extreme black nationalistic theology and has found no Christian compunction to refuse to honor the Minister Louis Farrakhan?

We all know by now that Rev. Wright gave Louis Farrakhan a lifetime achievement award back in December 2007. Every year the Trumpeter Newsmagazine, the literary arm of Rev. Wright's church, Trinity United Church of Christ, offers awards to different individuals in various categories.

In a letter from the magazine's publisher, Jeri. L. Wright, the pastor's daughter, she writes, "The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan is the recipient of this year's Lifetime Achievement "Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. Trumpeter Award."

Barak Obama attends a church, whose magazine gave a lifetime achievement award to a man who is a serious anti-Semite. Louis Farrakhan is not some pesky little gnat that goes away after a few swats. Louis Farrakhan is a respected leader in the black community as we witnessed in his involvement with the Million Man March.

In the November-December 2007 Trumpeter magazine an article "An Empowerment Interview," gives the reasons why the award was given to Minister Farrakhan.

The article specifically records the view of Jeremiah Wright on Louis Farrakhan. In the piece Jeremiah Wright applaudes the Nation of Islam leader and remarks on his significant impact, "When Minister Farrakahn speaks, Black America listens."

Wright compares Farrakhan to the E.F. Hutton commericals. So when Farrakhan speaks of Judaism as a "gutter religion," the black community takes him seriously?

In Richard Cohen's Washington Post article he remarks, "Over the years, he [Farrakhan] has compiled an awesome record of offensive statements, even denigrating the Holocaust by falsely attributing it to Jewish cooperation with Hitler -- 'They helped him get the Third Reich on the road.'"

Louis Farrakhan is a man stricken, as Cohen rightly says, with "botulism of the mind." How can a Christian leader offer him a lifetime achievement award? How can Barak Obama embrace a Pastor who sees greatness in Louis Farrakahn and continue to attend a church that had no problems with a pastor who delivers hateful speeches about a country Obama would like to lead? It's mind-boggling that the impact of this paradoxical scenario has not hit the hearts and minds of Obama supporters a lot deeper.

How in the world did the congregants of the Trinity United Church of Christ listen to the anti-American, angry rantings of Pastor Wright for so many years and not make a moral and spiritual issue of it? I wonder if there's much difference between Pastor Wright's thinking and that of his congregation . . . a church Obama still attends.

Rev. Wright says of Farrakhan and his anti-Jewish conspiratorial thinking, "Everybody may not agree with him [Farrakhan, but they listen . . . His depth of analysis where it comes to the racial ills of this nations is astounding and eye opening. He brings a perspective that is helpful and honest." Rev. Wright, does that include his denigration of the Holocaust?

Barak Obama needs to connect the dots between his pastor and Louis Farrakhan. He can't just say to Hillary Clinton in a recent debate that he denounces the endorsement of Farrakhan if it "makes her comfortable."
Is he personally comfortable with Farrakhan's endorsement or did he simple tell the "rich white woman" what she wanted to hear ?

In no way do I think Obama shares the views of Farrakhan. But his pastor may! This is a pastor who prayed with the young senator just before his Illinois announcement that he'll run for the presidency. Cohen asks, "Will he pray for him before his inaugural?" I ask, "Will he pray at the inaugural?"

I will not take away from any good performed by Farrakhan in the black community. I had one Chicago resident tell me that where Farrakhan's followers live, there is no crime. In fact, I endorse his message of black self-reliance and his impact on the lives of young black men. But his achievements do not earn him the right for decent Americans to turn a deaf ear to his racist, anti-Semtic ravings! As I would critiicize any white man who espouses racism, I cannot turn away from the slippery forked tongue of Farrakhan when he speaks of white people as "blue eyed devils."

In the article in the Trumpeter Magazine, Wright continues to pile on the praise of Farrakhan, "His integrity and honesty have secured him a place in history as one of the nation's most powrfull critics.. . a catalyst for change and a religious leader who is sincere about his faith and purpose."

It's very clear where Rev. Wright stands . . . Louis Farrakhan is not a problem to him. Will Obama lose his Jewish support over this? Will it affect his perspective on Israel if he WINS the presidency and has to deal with Israel's leaders among whom are Holocaust survivors? Obama cannot flirt with Rev. Wright because the pastor lies in the same bed with Louis Farrakhan.

When I was a kid growing up in Newark, N.J., the neighborhood kids would choose up sides in order to play a game of street stickball. We would use any method available-"rock, paper, scissors" or "odds or evens." You had to wind up on one team or else you sat on the curb and watched.

Yes, Obama's speech was moving, but he still has not chosen sides on the Rev. Wright issue. He is attempting to play for his own team, the team of the American public and Rev. Jeremiah Wright's team all at the same time.

Knowing that Wright has honored Minister Louis Farrakhan as one of his all-star players, Obama has no choice but to choose to leave Wright's team and play for the other side-the side of justice, truth and integrity.

Has Obama got what it takes to make that choice or will he sit on the curb from 2008-2012?

Obama's Closeness to Rev.Wright Still A Problem

Obama's Pastor Anything But Wright

What's it going to take for Barak Obama to heed his moral conscience, exercise his judgment and make a bold step to leave his church, Trinity United Church of Christ? How many more outlandish, anti-white, anti-American statements do we need to hear from Barak's pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright? Where are the voices of evangelical black pastors condemning the skewed gospel of liberation theology and racist perspective of this Chicago pastor?

When asked about his pastor, Barak Obama has said, "we don't agree on everything . . . I've never had a thorough conversation with him on all aspects of politics." Well, the Senator from Illinois better sit his pastor down real quick before he throws a monkey wrench into Barak's campaign. On Townhall.com we discover, for the last 20 years Barak told reporters, he didn’t think there was 'anything particularly controversial' about Wright. Is Barak asleep concerning his radical spiritual mentor?

My prediction is either Barak and his wife Michelle distance themselves from Rev. Wright or the Senator's presidential campaign is going to go all wrong!

For one thing, Rev. Jeremiah Wright sees the United States of America through the lens of white racism. He is guilty of making scorching remarks on the government of the United States. During a sermonic rant Wright calls America, "the USA KKK." Is Obama's pastor making the American government equivalent to the Ku Klux Klan? Does he understand the white supremacy of this despicable Jew-hating, anti-black racist group? Sounds like Rev. Wright holds to some extreme conspiracy theories as well. If the KKK is controlling American, at least we know Wright disagrees with Louis Farrakhan that the Jews control the U.S. You can't have it both ways.

In a video of a recent sermon, the Rev. made disparaging, sarcastic remarks about the names of Colin Powell and Condoleezza (Condomleezza) Rice. How childish for an accomplished inner city pastor!

According to Rev. "Wrong" when a politically conservative black man or woman succeeds in entering government leadership, unless that person espouses the liberal black political gospel, that person is an "Uncle Tom" or a "house n-explitive" to the pastor. Are black intellects like Thomas Sowell or Shelby Steele allowed to think for themselves or must they follow the black group think of Rev. Wright's black caucus.

Where is Obama in this heyday where his pastor's sermons are being tossed around on the internet, radio and television like food samples at Costco? Does Obama have the guts to stand up to this "man of the cloth" and "rent his garments" like an Old Testament prophet disgusted with the corrupt leadership of his day? It appears Rev. Wright gets a pass from Obama simply because he is his pastor. If he cannot stand up to Rev. "Wrong", I have serious doubt about Obama's ability to make clear, moral judgments and follow through on his convictions. For Obama to admit after attending Trinity United Church of Christ for twenty years that he was not aware of "anything controversial" about his pastor calls into question Obama's ability to discern right from wrong and truth from error. Is he wearing ruby red slippers too?

From a 2007 NY Times piece, we learn that "in 1984, Rev. Wright traveled to Cuba to teach Christians about the value of nonviolent protest and to Libya to visit Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, along with the Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan." Of course, the media was quick to point out that having Louis Farrakhan as Wright's companion no way is an endorsement of the leader of the Nation of Islam.

In Richard Cohen's Washington Post column reveals, "In 1982, the church [Trinity United Church of Christ] launched Trumpet Newsmagazine; Wright's daughters serve as publisher and executive editor. Every year, the magazine makes awards in various categories. Last year, it gave the Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. Trumpeter Award to a man it said "truly epitomized greatness." That man is Louis Farrakhan."

Rev. Wright turns out to be a admirer of Minister Wrong not just a travel companion to Libya. The spiritual advisor of potentially the next President of the U.S. is Rev. Wrong once again.

Oddly, the left is jumping all over John McCain for being endorsed by Pastor John Hagee, an anti-Catholic evangelical. According to radio/TV host Sean Hannity, McCain has not embraced Hagee's endorsement. John Hagee is a Christian universalist who denies the necessity of Jesus as the Messiah for the Jewish people. Regardless, John Hagee is NOT McCain's pastor. Furthermore, Hagee's denouncement of Catholics is over theology not race. Also, I have yet to see John Hagee endorsing David Duke or any other avowed white racist as a man who "epitomizes greatness."

How can Obama sit by when his pastor hangs accolades on a man who calls white people "blue-eyed devils"? Louis Farrakhan is no hero to the black people when it comes to racism. He is an anti-Semite and has made hateful remarks about the Jewish religion as a "gutter religion." Why has he gotten a free pass on his racist remarks?

Does Rev. Wright preach the message of the New Testament or the liberal black liberation theology of the 70s? Again, the New York Times comments:

Mr. Wright preached black liberation theology, which interprets the Bible as the story of the struggles of black people, who by virtue of their oppression are better able to understand Scripture than those who have suffered less. That message can sound different to white audiences, said Dwight Hopkins, a professor at University of Chicago Divinity School and a Trinity member. “Some white people hear it as racism in reverse,” Dr. Hopkins said, while blacks hear, “Yes, we are somebody, we’re also made in God’s image.”

There is no black, white, Asian or Hispanic Gospel. No one people has claims on the New Testament message. The NT message was carried to Africa by Ethiopian man who came to know Christ through a Jewish follower of Christ. This took place during the first century according to the eighth chapter of the Book of Acts. Christianity is not the white man's religion. It is a faith that started among Jewish people to declare the liberation of redemption from sin and that message was sent out to all people regardless of race, color and ethnicity.

Obama has his hands full in light of the controversial video of his pastor that aired on Thursday March 13, 2008. His sermon focuses on how Hillary cannot relate to American black culture like Obama does. Listen to the Trinity United Church of Christ orator on Townhall.com: “Hillary ain’t never been called a [n-expletive]!” Wright fumes. I wonder if Obama, having a white mother, who has mysteriously disappeared in her son's presidential race, and an African father was called names by blacks for being half white? Let's not distance Barak too far from Hillary. We already know from Lynn Cheney that Barak Obama, on his Caucasian side is an eight cousin of Vice President Dick Cheney.

Then he accuses Hillary of fitting the mold of a rich white woman in contrast to Obama who "isn't privileged." Yet, in Obama's book Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, he bemoans the fact that he did not grow up in poverty like his black friends; he had a very good education and did not go through inner city schooling. He was not raised in a single parent home, as Wright explains, but Obama's mother remarried when Barak's father left, and she married a non-practicing Muslim man and they lived in Indonesia and Hawaii. That doesn't sound like Obama's from the 'hood to me. At least Hillary was raised in Chicago! You go, girl!

Rev. Wright makes up his own New Testament in his sermons: "Oh, I am so glad that I have a God who knows what it’s like to be a poor, black man in a country, in a culture that is controlled and run by rich, white people" Jesus grew up as a poor Jewish boy in a culture controlled by militant Romans who oppressed the Jewish people. If anything, God knows what anti-semitism feels like. In fact, if Rev. Wright knew the God of Israel, he wouldn't be hanging around the Jew-hater Louis Farrakhan.

Here's a part of his sermon he needs to direct to Minister Farrakhan, a man who "epitomizes greatness," "He taught me, Jesus did, how to love my enemies. Jesus taught me how to love the hell out of my enemies and not be reduced to their level of hatred, bigotry and small-mindedness. " How shortsighted Rev. Wright is.

The final curtain call on Rev. Wright's ministry comes in a sermon reported on today's ABC with Brian Ross. According to Ross, Wright delivered a speech in 2003 in which he said, “No, no, no, not ‘God Bless America” but “god damn America."

According to Ross, Wright said “The government gives them [African Americans] the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three strikes law and then wants us to sing 'God bless America,' No, no, no, not 'God bless America,' God damn America -- that's in the Bible, you're killing innocent people, God damn America for treating us citizens as less than human."

No where does Pastor Wright admit that black men are in prison because they committed crimes. In his view black are victims of the U.S. government's conspiratorial plans to destroy the black race. Face it, Barak Obama, a presidential hopeful, attends a church pastored by a minister who hates America and hates its government.

Rev. Wright is no pastor who is true to the biblical text. He is true to his black ideology and disdain of white people and the country his "spiritual son" is seeking to lead.

Rev. Jeremiah Wright is a man who can only see the world through the filter of racism and not through the lens of the love of Jesus for all people. Barak Obama needs to take a hard look at a man he considers his spiritual mentor and take the next step out the door of that church. He must see that Rev. Wright is all Wrong for him. If not, Rev. Wright will mentor Barak Obama into a landslide defeat to the Republican contender John McCain.

Obama's Pastor Anything But Wright

Is Barak Obama a Muslim . . . or Not?

Is he or isn't he? Why is it so hard to determine the religious affiliation of a potential President of the U.S.?

In an interview with Jewish reporters on Monday January 21, 2008 Sen. Obama addressed the rumors aimed at his religious commitments. Obama was strong to attack a "constant and virulent smear campaign via the Internet that I know has been particularly targeted at the Jewish community . . . it states that I am a Muslim, that I was sworn into my Senate office with my hand on a Koran, that I don't pledge allegiance."

Obama normally does not respond to such "falsehoods" but these reports appear to have gotten traction in the right wing sector of the Jewish community.

Obama clarified his relationship to Islam on an ABC Sunday morning news show (March 2, 2008): "I have never practiced Islam. I was raised by my secular mother. I have been a member of the Christian religion and have been an active Christian. I was sworn in with my hand on my family Bible, and have been pledging allegiance since I was three years old." I have no reason to not take him at his word. I complain that he's a "fog of a man." Here's is trying to clear up the murkiness, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

But the emails and attacks against Obama continue. Last week a photo of Obama wearing Kenyan tribal raiments appeared on the Internet. The photo was taken during Obama's visit in 2006 to the country where his father was born. The photo implied, "Look, here's proof Obama is a Muslim." How childish!

In response to the photo Obama said last week to Jewish leaders in Cleveland, "If anyone is still puzzled about the facts, in fact I have never been a Muslim."

Where are the photos of Barak being sworn in with his hand on the Koran? I want some solid proof other than rumors via emails and blogs.

Where are photos of Barak worshipping in a mosque on his face prostrate to Allah? If he's a Muslim, he had to pray 5 times a day. Some journalistic photographer has got to catch this "Muslim" on his knees and snap a photo of this "closet Muslim" in action ? No?

Obama says he's a Christian. Though I have serious issues with Obama's liberal black nationalist Pastor Jeremiah Wright, I think Barak is telling the truth. However, I am not convinced he's an evangelical Christian.
Listen to Obama's words from a 2004 Chicago Sun Times article in which Cathleen Falsani interviewed the Senator: "So, I have a deep faith. I'm rooted in the Christian tradition. I believe that there are many paths to the same place, and that is a belief that there is a higher power, a belief that we are connected as a people." Obama is more of a universalist than a true New Testament Christian. Obama is a "sort-of" and "barely" a Christian but he's not a Muslim.


What about the fact he lived in Indonesia for four years? "In an Associated Press article from 2/26/98, Obama explains again, "My grandfather, who was Kenyan, converted to Christianity, then converted to Islam. My father never practiced; he was basically agnostic. So, other than my name and the fact I lived in a populous Muslim country [Indonesia] for four years when I was a child, I have very little connection to the Islamic religion." I'll take him at his word. However, to say there's no Islamic influence on Obama from having lived in an Islamic country is naive. I lived in Vietnam for one year and came back to the States spouting off Buddhism. I'm a Christian today but I was touched by living among a Buddhist people-the south Vietnamese,

Some people accuse Obama of turning his back on the flag when the Pledge of Allegiance is stated. How in the world could a man run for U.S. President, attend dozens of political rallies where the Pledge is said, and have gotten away for this long spurning the U.S. flag and the pledge? How about another rumor? Barak Obama is really a reincarnation of Harry Houdini? I'm not even sure David Copperfield could pull off a stunt like that.

Finally, Obama is said to have attended a Muslim madrassa school as a child in Jakarta. After being born in Hawaii, he moved to Indonesia at the age of six to live with his mother and stepfather. From investigations it has been learned by the AP that the school he attended for six years before returning to Hawaii is a "public and secular institution and has been open to students of all faiths since before Obama attended in the late 1960s." The principal of the school admitted most students in the school are Muslim, but there are Christians as well.

The evidence that Barak Obama is a Muslim is weak, based on circumstantial evidence. I am more concerned with Obama's concession last week to begrudgingly denounce the endorsement of Louis Farrakhan. Barak only conceded after Hillary Clinton pressed the candidate. Does Obama know the seriousness of any connection with Minister Farrakhan, an avowed anti-Semite and a Caucasian hater?

Let's put the focus on the familiarity of Obama's pastor Jeremiah Wright with Black Muslim leader Louis Farrakhan. Why would Obama continue to attend a church spearheaded by the pastor of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ who feels the "Christian" conviction to give an award from the "Trumpet Newsmagazine, a Trinity church publication, to Louis Farrakhan for his "greatness."

If my pastor awarded a person who hated Jews and blacks, I would say my piece to that pastor and I'd be out the door. I'd never sit comfortably is a Christian church that embraces a hater of Jews and whites.

The Rev. Jerome Wright will be an albatross around the neck of Barak Obama. If Obama wins the presidency, do we want Wright giving the inaugural prayer . . . a man of the "Christian" cloth who awards a racist black Muslim? Shame on us all if we tolerate such Christian hypocrisy!

Is Barak Obama a Muslim . . . or Not?

Clearing Up the Mystery of Barak Obama's Support of Israel

Why is Barak Obama's stance on the Middle East such a mystery? From the BarakObama campaign website, it appears Mr. Obama will support a strong U.S.-Israel partnership:

Barack Obama strongly supports the U.S.-Israel relationship, believes that our first and incontrovertible commitment in the Middle East must be to the security of Israel . . . Obama supports this closeness, stating that the United States would never distance itself from Israel.

Concerning Israel's right to defend itself against enemy attack, the policy making Obama headquarters states:

During the July 2006 Lebanon war, Barack Obama stood up strongly for Israel's right to defend itself from Hezbollah raids and rocket attacks, cosponsoring a Senate resolution against Iran and Syria's involvement in the war, and insisting that Israel should not be pressured into a ceasefire that did not deal with the threat of Hezbollah missiles. He believes strongly in Israel's right to protect its citizens.

From Barak's website, his commitment to Israel as primary ally of the U.S. is a done deal. However, on Sunday (February 24, 2008), Ralph Nadar made several remarks on "Meet the Press" that brings Obama's stand on Israel into question.

According to the Republican Jewish Coalition website, Nader remarked that Sen. Obama had reversed his positions on Israel. Nader said Sen. Obama's "better instincts and his knowledge have been censored by himself" and that Sen. Obama was "pro-Palestinian when he was in Illinois before he ran for the state Senate" and "during the state Senate."

In March 2007 Obama told voters in Iowa, that "nobody is suffering more than the Palestinian people." From The Nation we learn Obama has spoken highly of the Palestinian people and the calamities they have faced. Obviously, these statements made back in March 2007 have not endeared Obama to the Jewish pro-Israel bloc.

Republican Jewish Coalition Executive Director Matt Brooks warns that "people should be very skeptical of Barack Obama's shaky Middle East policies. When a long-time political activist like Ralph Nader, with a well-documented, anti-Israel bias, claims that Senator Obama shares this anti-Israel bias, that is alarming."

However,with all due respect to Barak Obama, if he has truly reversed his position on Israel out of sincere convictions, I applaude his change of heart. Perhaps in preparing for his presidential run, he looked further into the issues of the Middle East and made a genuine change of policy. Perhaps he was more anti-Israel in the past. The words that come out of his mouth on his website today and in other situations sound as though he has come to a new understanding on Israel's tough situation.

If Barak Obama has altered his position on Israel only to garner Jewish votes, shame on him.

If he becomes president, and is forced to deal with the Middle East conflict, will he stand by Israel and condemn Palestinian terrorist aggression? That is a gamble Obama supporters will have to take, especially his Jewish advocates. The question we must ask is whether he truly understands the complexities of the Middle East dilemma and will he stand by Israel to protect and secure America's longtime democratic ally?

Tonight on the presidential debate Mr. Obama was asked about the fact earlier this week Nation of Islam minister Louis Farrakhan threw in his support of Barak for president. Minister Farrakhan called the democratic presidential candidate, the "hope of the entire world." When asked about Farrakhan, Obama described in no uncertain terms that he views the Minister's comments as antisemitic-repugnant and reprehensible. Yet when pressed whether he rejects the support of Farrakhan, Obama faltered a bit and said he had no control over who supports him. In the debate format Mrs. Clinton pressed further, and Obama conceded that he rejects the support of Louis Farrakhan. It's too bad and also alarming that Obama had to falter at all in rejecting Farrakhan's support.

No person-white or black-claiming to want the Jewish vote can do so without disavowing any connection with the racism of Louis Farrakhan.

Regarding Obama's position on Israel, in June 2007 he was asked by Jim Wallis' Sojourners where he stands on Israel. The question posed by Wallis gave every opportunity to Obama to clarify where he stands: "Do you think the Palestinians and the occupied territories are being treated morally, and fairly, and justly by the Israelis?"

Obama replied:

"I believe that the Israelis want peace, and they want security. And oftentimes, in the midst of achieving security, there have been times when there's no doubt that Palestinians have been placed in situations that we wouldn't want our own families to be placed in. Israelis have been killed. They've got bombs flying into their territories right now. And we would expect them to act appropriately in defending themselves. . . Is there a way for us to reconcile the claims of both sides of the conflict in a way that leads to resolution and a better life for all people? And that, I think, is something that can be achieved, but it's going to require some soul-searching on the Palestinian side. They have to recognize Israel's right to exist; they have to renounce violence and terrorism as a tool to achieve their political ends; they have to abide by agreements. In that context, I think the Israelis will gladly say, 'Let's move forward negotiations that would allow them to live side by side with the Palestinians in peace and security.'

While I have yet to see Obama's position on whether he believes in a one state or two state solution to the Middle East conflict, I am squeamish to admit he seems committed to the security of Israel and is willing to challenge Palestinian terrorism as a counterfeit and fruitless means of achieving "peace in the Middle East."


If Obama's support of Israel is simply the necessary rhetoric of a man who needs to say what's expedient for the moment to grab the Jewish vote, then the U.S., the Israelis and the Jewish community have been duped by a man who would prove himself to be no better than Louis Farrakhan. I say that with deep grief in my heart hoping that Barak Obama is a man of integrity and a man of his word.

Clearing Up the Mystery of Barak Obama's Support of Israel