Rashid Khalidi on Obama at Columbia Middle East Research Center in Amman
Hadn’t it been for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, I wouldn’t have heard about Rashid Khalidi. Sad or not that an Arab had to hear about a political Palestinian activist through the American elections isn’t the issue here. It’s about the stories that have been weaved to attack Obama via this academic Columbia figure (NYT, LAT).
Well today, right here in Amman, this New Yorker spoke about his relationship with Obama, at the inaugural speech for Columbia’s Global Center in Amman. See for yourself:
The New Yorker Strikes
In a true judgmental, stereotypical, uninformed mentality, and un-NY fashion, New Yorker published a satirical cartoon on its front cover of the Obama couple running the White House in a radical militant islamist (the small caps “i” is intended) manner. While they were at it, why didn’t they veil Michelle, put a few Quranic verses on the wall in recognizable Arabic calligraphy, and put a gun beside a Clinton cigar on the desk? Screwed as it is, it wasn’t visually Arab-related. Actually, the ethnic and religious dilemma of linking Islam to Arabs is dropped here. At least they got something right.
Ironical enough, this cartoon is titled “The Politics of Fear”. Well at least let’s give them credit; there is one thing about this piece that triggers laughter.