There has been much discussion throughout the Net about a secreted video showing Barack Obama at a dinner with terrorists Bill Ayers and wife Bernadine Dohrn, and the anti-Semitic Arafat advisor, Rashid Khalidi.
The Los Angeles Times has a copy of the tape, but won't release it because they said the source--whom I believe is Arab American Action Network (AAAN) founder and anti-Israel Palestinian activist Ali Abunimah of Electronic Intifada--required it not be released as a condition of sharing it. That's because it likely shows Obama applauding an anti-Semitic, anti-Israel poem that was read at the dinner.
I believe that Wallsten contacted Abunimah about the photos and learned of the other AAAN annual banquet dinner (at which Abunimah, Obama, Ayers, Dohrn, and Khalidi were all in attendance), and that Abunimah is his source for the video.
Here's my e-mail to him. I'll let you know when and if I get a response.
In any event, the L.A. Times--usually telling us about the public's right to know--now only believes in "the public's right to know what we want it to know and what will aid our pan-Obama-ist agenda."
Updated:
Sean Hannity has found a video tape from June 13, 1998, and has been broadcasted over FOX News. Sean Hannity has also come across a book by the title Prairie Fire by Bill Ayers, and Bernadine Dorn.
Updated:
A December 15, 1998 audio from a radio interview has been found by this blog. Rashid Khalidi discusses U.S. foreign policy, Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli Likud party. Khalidi jokingly suggests that Netanyahu has to be finished off like finishing off a vampire with a stake.
Here's the YouTube clip:
Original article:
There is a lot of discussion about a Khalidi tape in the political blogosphere as of lately.
Here is a YouTube video of Sean Hannity discussing the background behind Rashid Khalidi and his association with Barack Obama.
The so-called Khalidi tape is made reference to in a LA Times article dated April 10, 2008.
From that article, we can begin to break down the who, what, when, and where questions of the event and try to answer them.
The first question is who attended the event? We can gather some of the information from that LA Times article and also from an archived NY Sun article dated February 4, 2005.
The LA Times article mentions that the following people attended:
1. Rashid Khalidi (is the main reason this event was held)
2. Barack Obama (who gave a special tribute)
3. Mona Khalidi (Rashid Khalidi's wife)
4. Local Palestinian Leaders
5. A poet
Possible guests alluded to within the LA Times article:
1. Edward Said (a late Columbia University professor)
2. Michelle Obama
3. Ali Abunimah (a Palestinian rights activist in Chicago who helps run Electronic Intifada)
The NY Sun article mentions that the following in its article:
...In Chicago, the Khalidis founded the Arab American Action Network, and Mona Khalidi served as its president. A big farewell dinner was held in their honor by AAAN with a commemorative book filled with testimonials from their friends and political allies. These included the left wing anti-war group Not In My Name, the Electronic Intifada, and the ex-Weatherman domestic terrorists Bernadine Dohrn and Bill Ayers. (There were also testimonials from then-state Senator Barack Obama and the mayor of Chicago.)
From this we can verify and gather that the following attended the event:
1. Arab American Action Network (AAAN, founded by Rashid Khalidi)
2. Mona Khalidi
3. Not In My Name (left wing anti-war group)
4. The Electronic Intifada
5. Bill Ayers (ex-Weatherman domestic terrorist)
6. Bernadine Dohrn (ex-Weatherman domestic terrorist)
7. Barack Obama
8. Richard Daley (Mayor of Chicago)
From this information we can gather more clues from a list serve e-mail.
Fri, August 1 - Arab American Action Network.
Fundraising Dinner to Honor Mona and Rashid Khalidi for over 15 years of service to our communities in Chicago. 6 pm reception, 7 pm dinner and program, at the Burbank Manor, 6345 W. 79th St. Tickets: $50. The program will include statements of appreciation from State Senator Barack Obama, NPR personality Jerome McDonald, long-time community activist Camilia Odeh, and others; and performances by Gihad Ali, a Palestinian spoken word poet, and the Sanabel debka troupe...
And interestingly...
Fri-Thu, August 1-7
Film: "The Weather Underground." Music Box
Theatre, 3733 N. Southport. Sam Green's & Bill Siegel's documentary on
1960s resistance group...
This expands the guest list:
1. Rashid Khalidi (is the main reason this event was held)
2. Arab American Action Network (AAAN, founded by Rashid Khalidi)
3. Barack Obama (who gave a special tribute)
4. Mona Khalidi (Rashid Khalidi's wife)
5. Local Palestinian Leaders
6. Not In My Name (left wing anti-war group)
7. Ali Abunimah (a Palestinian rights activist in Chicago who helps run Electronic Intifada)
8. Bill Ayers (ex-Weatherman domestic terrorist)
9. Bernadine Dohrn (ex-Weatherman domestic terrorist)
10. Gihad Ali, A poet
11. Richard Daley (Mayor of Chicago)
12. The Sanabel Debka troupe
Possible guests:
1. Edward Said (a late Columbia University professor)
2. Michelle Obama
From this we can confirm the poem that was alluded to in the LA times as
"Eye to Eye" by Gihad Ali:
Palestine is our land and there we'll remain?until the day our homeland is secure.?? And if that time shall never come,? then you will never see a day of peace.
LA Times article snippet:
At Khalidi's 2003 farewell party, for example, a young Palestinian American recited a poem accusing the Israeli government of terrorism in its treatment of Palestinians and sharply criticizing U.S. support of Israel. If Palestinians cannot secure their own land, she said, "then you will never see a day of peace."
We can also conclude that the Sanabel Debka troupe was the group who gave a dance and music performance as alluded to in the LA Times article:
Sanabel Debka troupe archived schedule.
From the Sanabel Debka troupe's website, we can find a photo of the group alongside with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley.
Other leads:
On the Electronic Intifada's website, Ali Abunimah posts a 1998 photo of Edward Said with Barack and Michelle Obama.
The photo caption reads:
"From left to right, Michelle Obama, then Illinois state senator Barack Obama, Columbia University Professor Edward Said and Mariam Said at a May 1998 Arab community event in Chicago at which Edward Said gave the keynote speech. (Image from archives of Ali Abunimah)"
Another photo of Michelle Obama and Barack Obama at the 1998 dinner.
VIDEO: Ali Abunimah on Senator Barack Obama
Rashid Khalidi was a professor at the University of Chicago prior to being recruited by Edward Said at Columbia University. A
New York Sun article describes Khalidi's problems at the time.
Verified Information
Location:
Burbank Manor, 6312 W 79th St., Burbank, Illinois
Photo courtesy of Google Maps (Street Version)
Time:
Friday, August 1, 2003
6pm - Reception
7pm - Dinner and Reception
Photos from within the Burbank Manor:
Those who attended (the guest list):
1. AAAN (
Arab American Action Network)
2. Not In My Name
3. Ali Abunimah (a Palestinian rights activist in Chicago who helps run Electronic Intifada,
who met Obama in 2000)
4. Bernadine Dorhn and Bill Ayers
5. Barack Obama
6. Mayor of Chicago Richard Daley
7. Rashid Khalidi
8.
Mona Khalidi
9. Gihad Ali, a Palestinian spoken word poet
10. NPR Worldview host Jerome McDonnell (not McDonald as written in the e-mail)
11. Camilia Odeh (director of
SWYC Southwest Youth Collaborative)
12.
Sanabel debka troupe (traditional Palestinian dance group)
13.
Hatem Abudayyeh (AAAN’s executive director)
14. Others - Up to 50 to 500, possibly 600 guests (based on Burbank Manor's seating capacity capabilities)
Possible attendees (unconfirmed, and undocumented):
1. Michelle Obama
2. Toni Rezko (Rezko was a donor to one of
Rashid's University programs)
3. Edward Said
4. Louis Farrakhan
5. Nation of Islam (NOI)
Research Notes:
It appears that this event was "off the cuff" in the sense that it conveniently does not appear on the City of Chicago's Mayors Office
August 2003 press release section. Daley's presence at the event is suggested otherwise by the photo posted by the traditional Palestinian dance group. The event also does not appear on
Barack Obama's old State Senate website calendar:
Friday, July 4 (2003) – Obama participates in various Independence Day parades throughout Illinois. To volunteer, please email ntamarin@obamaforillinois.com.
Saturday, July 19 (2003) – Olympia Fields – South Suburbans for Obama Campaign Picnic. Sergeant Means Park. 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
(Event occurred on August 1, 2003)
Wednesday, August 13 (2003) - Springfield -- Governor's Day (Democrat Day) at the State Fair. Barack to speak at rally.
Article from the Jewish Press:
OBAMA SERVED ON BOARD THAT FUNDED PRO-PALESTINIAN GROUP
JERUSALEM - Democratic presidential frontrunner Sen. Barack Obama served as a paid director on the board of a nonprofit organization that granted funding to a controversial Arab group that mourns the establishment of Israel as a "catastrophe." (Obama has also reportedly spoken at fundraisers for Palestinians living in what the United Nations terms refugee camps.)
The co-founder of the Arab group, Columbia University professor Rashid Khalidi, is a harsh critic of Israel who reportedly worked on behalf of the Palestine Liberation Organization when it was labeled a terror group by the State Department.
Khalidi held a fundraiser in 2000 for Obama's failed bid for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
In 2001, the Woods Fund, a Chicago-based nonprofit that describes itself as a group helping the disadvantaged, provided a $40,000 grant to the Arab American Action Network, or AAAN, at which Khalidi's wife, Mona, serves as president. The Fund provided a second grant to AAAN for $35,000 in 2002.
Obama was a director of the Woods Fund board from 1999 to Dec. 11, 2002, according to the Fund's website. According to tax filings, Obama received compensation of $6,000 per year for his service in 1999 and 2000.
The $40,000 grant from the Woods Fund to AAAN constituted about a fifth of the group's reported grants for 2001, also according to tax filings. The $35,000 Woods Fund grant in 2002 made up about one-fifth of AAAN's reported grants for that year as well.
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Note & Request:
If you happen to find the video through use of this research, please track back to this article. Thanks.