From +972Mag, where this appears as an op-ed analysis:
Look, as a Palestinian, I’m used to hearing racist epithets thrown my way. I’ve heard Abba Eban say that Palestinians “never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.” I’ve heard Menachem Begin call us “beasts.” Ehud Barak called us “crocodiles.” Ariel Sharon once said he would “kill as many Arabs as necessary.” Benjamin Netanyahu labels us a “demographic threat.” Famously, Golda Meir once even told the world “There is no such thing as a Palestinian people… It’s not as if we came and threw them out… They didn’t exist.”
In the past few years, this trend has made its way firmly into American politics. Of course, we’ve had to constantly deal with American politicians speaking of Israeli and American “shared values” and Israel’s special status as the Middle East’s “lone democracy.” Back when Barack Obama was running for president in 2008, he was accused of having a “Palestinian friend.” Obama confirmed the fact, but urged reporters to not make him a victim of “guilt by association.”
I started to think that we Palestinians were somehow scary. I was worried we would end up in haunted houses right next to the ghosts and zombies. Wait, forget I said that. I don’t want to give anyone any ideas!
In this 2012 presidential race, we are at the forefront again. Last December…
Read the rest of this post at +972Mag, a blog focused on affairs in Palestine & Israel
“Guilt by association”….I’m not sure that’s any better than what Romney, Ehud Barak, Sharon..and the rest of the zionist posse have said. So Obama admitted that he indeed did have a “Palestinian Friend” but his quote implies that he was ashamed of it and preferred not to draw attention to the fact. Are those with “Palestinian friends” indeed guilty by association? Does being a Palestinian mean that you will be eternally guilty for the crimes perpetrated against non-arabs even if you had nothing to do with them and do not align whatsoever with the ideology of the perpetrators? Are all Germans sympathetic to Adolf Hitler? Of course not.
But of course, associating with a friend, an arab friend, nontheless…is sign of guilt. Guilty of what? Sleeping with the enemy of the Zionist Lobby in America? Well, I guess when they’re lining your pockets, its indeed a shameful thing to do, no? It’s like if Beyonce gets paid to endorse Pepsi, then is seen sitting in a resturant chugging a Coca-Cola. Girl wouldn’t do it anyway, it goes straight to her ba-donk a donk…but you get the point.