Will the Arab World Take Issue With Rahm’s Israeli Roots and Pro-Israel Views?

Emanuel participated in Israel’s 1982 war of aggression against Lebanon (not as a soldier but in the rear lines repairing equipment). That war was a particularly brutal war, killing an estimated 17,825 Lebanese.

I don’t care what Israelis and Arabs think. It’s time we demand American foreign policy be made in Washington D.C.-not Tel Avi, Baghdad, or Mexico City. The rest of the world will never understand that in American is doesn’t matter if you have a president named “Hussein” and a chief-of-staff named “Israel”.

Let’s hope that Rahm Emanuel holds somewhat more enlightened views of Arabs, than those apparently offered today by his own father. “Clean the floors”, indeed.

Rahm Emanuel is an American citizen and has had a distinguished career in public service to this country. That he is a Jew is his religious faith; that he supports Israel as the Jewish Homeland is part of a Jew’s religious faith — it is in in no way a political statement. Palestine was partitioned by the United Nations via the Balfour Declaration and 60 years ago the State of Israel was recognized, and has since held a seat among other member
countries in the UN, except for the Arab states which are her neighbors. History isn’t the strong suit of a great many Americans — neither their own nor world history — just watch “Jay Walking” on Jay Leno’s show.

Look, intelligent people can handle these situations.
They work for the greater good. They put their feelings aside and work for the USA.
This is something that some Republicans and quite a few of the religious “bent” (Catholics come to mind in their vehement disgust of Biden, because as a US Senator, he puts his nation before his religion – the abortion issue) can’t understand that people of intelligence work for the big picture not their own agenda (hum, maybe like Cheney).
Take a deep breathe and grow up. Small minds make for a small world. The US has become insulated and stale…the future with Obama may have some challenges but his calm personality and intelligence can make the US fresh and formidable in the world.
Don’t judge each appointment on the little we know of these individuals…if Obama has confidence in them that’s probably enough.
Bush never selected his “crew” – Cheney was the master mind and Bush the “puppet” and see what the outcome has been.
I think we should be proud of the Americans that we have serving in office that are from different
backgrounds and experiences.
As a middle age white woman I think it’s time that we shake things up and get a true representation of our country in our government.
Proudly voted for Obama.

All of this “old people’s” past garbage is making me sick. Sure, Barack chose Rahm – he is the best person for the job and Barack trusts him! What is this? Oh, they all thought Barack was an “Arab” – I get it – to clean White House floors, I guess. Yuck! Bigotry – no matter who spouts it is disgusting.
Barack has always loved Israel, and yet he has compassion for Palestinians – as he should. Rahm isn’t POTUS. Obama is. Let him do his job.
I love Israel, too – but NO one should step on others – No one. Give Palestinians the West Bank.

Let’s wait and see how all Obama’s appointments balance out before we start freaking over this one. I am confident that Mr. Emanuel is capable of holding differing views than his parent. Don’t most of us?

why don’t we all just take a wait and see attitude. At least we can follow the thinking about what he is doing,even if we don’t understand it yet.
over the last eight years, with bush, there has not been much that he has done that has made any sense. we all just watched with our mouth open, in unbelief.
Bush could not even articulate what he was trying to do.
what is happening now with obama, to me, is a sure testament to how bad the bush presidency has been. it has been so bad, everyone, and i mean everyone
wants to move on and get away from bush as quick as possible. even bush.
I truly do think if bush could, he would leave the white house tonight.

Great, we all love Obama, why would he do this? I thought he wanted world peace. We can’t get there by partnering with a pro-Israeli hardliner. This is absolutely insane. So much for peace. First wolfowitz and firth and now another hardcore pro Israeli warmonger. If you want peace in that region don’t stock your team with people who view arabs as their mortal enemy. jeez…

actually the appointment is intriuging. the best leaders surround themselves with strong people of all sides. Especially with those that hold opposite thoughts than their own. its the best way of gaining insight.

We’ve had Christians, Catholics, White Men and now an African-American serving as President of the United States. We almost had a woman. But, not a Jew. Who do you think will break the glass ceiling first, a women or a Jew? Probably a woman. In the meanwhile, it’s nice to see Rahm Emanuel appointed chief-of-staff. It’s a mitzvah.
Halli Casser-Jayne

I do not remember Obama promising to be tougher on Israel. The consevatives lied when they said Obama would not support the Jewish state.

Richard Slater, Frieda, et al – don’t you think it’s kind of funny that throughout the campaign people were calling Obama all sorts of names, slying implying that he’s not a supporter of Israel? First, he’s called a Muslim, then he’s got “terrorist” connections, then there’s footage of him at a benefit with hard-liner Arabs, and everyone’s all “we can’t trust him because of his associations.” So now, as President-elect, he appoints a tough, let’s get things man who happens to be a Jew, and people aren’t happy with that either. For goodness sake, for some of you there’s nothing Obama can do right. I don’t think Rahm’s appointment as Obama’s chief of staff has anything to do with Israel or Palestine or the Middle East. Rahm is tough, competent, and gets things done. And THAT is why Obama wants him in his administration. Leave it alone.

I don’t hold this chap responsible for his dad’s slanderous remarks, and I won’t pre-judge. However, something needs to be done over there by my folks’ old mutha land, lest things continue on the current path (bad enough), or get worse. If Rahm can help by deflecting accusations of Obama-bias (how could he be biased against Jews or Israel if he proclaimed that the whole of Jerusalem should be the eternal capital of Israel, something no president has ever said??) or offering any kind of expertise while some sort of settlement on these matters is pursued once and for all, then fine, however the jury is still out on this one until we see what happens, but he’s appointed and there’s nothing we can do except watch. I hope the parties understand that not settling this and prolonging the situation in the Middle East and continuing settlements is not good policy for Israel and is rather short-sighted and will lead to more perpetual conflict. On the other hand, everyone benefits if a mutually beneficial agreement is reached. Perhaps the whole thing is intentionally Orwellian — perpetual war. Ah, but that’s too cynical.
As an educated Arab-American who writes run-on sentences, I am not an apologist, but I do wholly agree with an earlier comment that criticism of Israel is far more muted in the USA than in any other country, even Israel, whose media is much more fair in constructively criticizing failed or inhumane policy there than here, where such a thing is taboo. There are plenty of things to criticize on the side of Israel’s neighbors, but that is done quite adequately in the American media, as is the case with the Palestinians. However, it is often conveniently neglected that the Palestinians ARE in fact, several million people without a homeland, basic freedoms and liberties and services, so an extreme reaction from several thousand out of several million after years without progress should almost be expected (I’m NOT arguing about justifications, just expectations, cause-effect, yada yada).
Finally, in response to another comment below, supporting Israel is not part of a Jew’s religious faith. You are confusing Zionism, a more recent phenomenon and a political movement, with Judaism, one of the great Abrahamic religions. Of course, he may also support Israel because there are other Jews there, but the foundation of Israel in and of itself is not explicitly part of the Jewish faith — a common American misconception, among many others which contribute to the lack of understanding on Middle Eastern matters. But that’s fine, and it’s natural for someone to support a country with people sharing a background common to one’s own. Just a minor detail to correct. OK, I’m done rambling.

Well, as usual people here think Israel is the bad guy despite the fact that the Israelis left Gaza and the palestinians fired on them. It’s ok for arabs to live in Israel but jews can’t live in the palestinian occupied areas. Don’t forget Jordan was palestine too.

I think there are some people who are waiting with baited breath for Obama to slip.
But I don’t think that Arabs are the ones to worry about in this case.
If anything, I am worried about some Americans who would like to stir up some controversy and scuttle Obama’s chances at helping to build peace.
Muslims, in general, seem to welcome the change of leadership and seem to feel hopeful about it.
But there are some bitter people in this country who don’t want Obama to succeed in this… so they might try to kick up a fuss over it. (But I doubt any of these people are Arabs or Muslims… they might, however, call themselves “Christians” of a very particular pro-end-end-of-the-world variety or they might, for some other reason, support a continued war between Israelis and Palestinians).

You know… Amy Goodman at Democracy Now has been covering election news for the last year…
And this is the first time I have ever seen her quoted here.
Which is strange because she has done many more significant stories… ones which would have been great for people to listen to before the election….
But then after the election, you zoom in on this particular point of conflict, which is purely speculative.
(Including the quote by Rahm’s father is also kind of sketchy… I mean, Rahm is not his father… couldn’t you get a quote from Rahm himself about his plans? If someone was writing a story about my priorities… I would hope someone would ask me rather than my father.)

Not true… Chee.

Why would anyone seek a controversy… especially when these kinds of controversies often result in violence and conflict.
It doesn’t seem responsible to repeat Emanual’s dad’s inflammatory statements if you don’t know what Rahm himself thinks. This kind of reporting could create a false diplomatic impression for people who are trying to establish a good working relationship with Obama.
It deliberately sets out to set prejudice in motion….

Wow.. He just picked someon and peopl are going mad already, This country “USA” has all peoples in it, If he picked an Arab american would you lose your cookies as well. Grow up.. folks.

Obama’s job is to appointed the most qualified people to his cabinet. It is the media’s job to speculate on the meaning of the appointments.
It hasn’t been a weeks since the general election and there is too much negativity sweeping the internet.
Give President-Elect Obama some space to work it all out for the good of this country. Give it a break ye of little faith.

what does it mean “republican bloodbath?”

Of course Arabs will take issue with rahm’s appointment, but they’re used to it. They won’t be disillusioned. Obama offered hope to the world just not the Arab world. Since Woodrow Wilson, all American presidents sided with Israel; This is why the appointment of Rahm will be a disappointment but not a surprise. What it will do is push the Arabs further towards hopelessness and all that comes with despair.

Rahm Emanuel, though a Democrat, is a centrist and he is known as the man who gets the job done without taking prisoners.
Washington under Obama will not have the luxury of rest or reprieve. All eyes are on Obama as there are so many things to be done. And Congressman Emanuel is the man he needs to get to the center and achieve results.
I give kudos to the President-Elect’s judgement in picking this achiever as his Chief of Staff.

This sends a strong signal to the Arab and Muslim world, that the US is not changing its Middle East agenda. On the domestic side, the 30 billion a year earmarked in the budget for Israel will most likely stand. Citizens might have to contend with belt tightening to repair the broken economy, but Emanuel will make sure Israel still gets their hand out.

i am new to this blogging game and i really liked most of the comments
they enriched my perception of the appointment and most were presented in a balanced way particularly youssef, halli casser-jayne, counting crowe, tim, acumen, sam ahmed, rev ike, over the top
i agree with those that believe rahm’s father’s views have nothing to do with rahm
my father was an isolationist conservative from the midwest usa and in no way would i ever
wish to be identified with his views
i wish to be appreciated for my own views & would classify myself as an independent, not a party person
i am closest to being aligned with the “green party” in australia
even in saying that i am not absolutely consistent…today i had a beautiful paperbark tree cut down for a satellite installation…some decisions are not easy
i laud those of u who see the positive in the appointment and are adopting a wait and see approach
to be honest, when i read about the appointment, i thought “oh my god what is obama doing?” and then realised that
i certainly don’t know enough to make that comment and then decided to read the blogs
i was amazed the information i casually picked up
thank u all for writing ur thoughts…at the moment i also will take a “wait and see” approach

Where’s the “Change we can believe in?”

Who would have thought that after 21 months of people on the right saying Obama isn’t Pro-Israel.. that Obama is now being criticized for being… “too” Pro-Isreal..
This country is just sick.. I’m so glad that PRESIDENT OBAMA will stop all of this madness of identity politics…

tHIS QUESTION IS FOR FLASHOVERIDE
Why is it in our national interest to support the satate of Israel no matter what it does?
Why?

I don’t see how the Cheif of Staff is going to MAKE policy concerning Middle East Affairs so everyone can relax.
He’ll be the Cheif of Staff people, not the President! The reason he’s a good choice is, when given a goal by the president, he’ll get the job done. Remember, his job is to do what the president wants him to do.
Boy…Anti-President-Elect Obama people will find anything to nit pick about won’t they?

Posted by: one world, one people,please |
re: “what does it mean “republican bloodbath?”
it means that Republicans, because they lost the 2008 election, are looking to blame someone for their loss, and Republicans can assign blame with great intensity……..
instead of unifying to figure out why their policies were rejected so strongly by the American electorate, Republicans will further insulate themselves by culling their ranks of anyone who they consider ‘unfaithful’ to their ideology as Republicans are a political party with a very intense religious base……
Republicans do not take criticism and ‘free thinking’ as positive attributes.

Rahm Emanuel is an excellent choice. Obama will not give in to terrorists.

Mr. Tapper implies this is just an issue for the Arab world. I can assure him that this kind of Israel-centrism in the halls of power is worrying to many Americans as well.
But kudos to him for at least broaching the topic.

I don’t know why there is such a big deal being made.
All we really need, and all we should have demanded of the bush adm.
and the very least we should get
is good, smart,competent people, who will get the job done.
that is what i see in Rham.
and anyway, i don’t know what people are complaining about now.
at first you said obama was an arab.
and a muslim.
so what better way for unity,
than an arab and a jew.
please, let the man do his job.
anything and anyone he brings in will be
for my part, i hope he will put colin powell, over the military and get this war ended properly.
colin powell to help end the war, and get
bin laden, remember him?
better than bush.

Smedley Butler,
????
What are you talking about?

If the Arab World is anything like the rest of the world, they will be more worried about how Emanuel used such underhanded tactics to try to undermine the Democratic position on the Iraq supplemental that he had to be kicked out of the Democratic strategy sessions back in 2007.
He is not the pick you want if your intent is to get out of Iraq.

This doesn’t shock me. Americans don’t control America.

Let’s get real. Rahm E was a Director of Freddie Mac. He’s one of the people responsible for the current economic crisis. Of course he’s a pitiful choice. But he was probably selected because he’s part of the cover up of the Democrats role in the current economic crisis and he is a staunch, tough, partisan.
This is certainly change you should have counted on.

I am wondering how can a U.S. citizen with dual citizenship (Israeli), and who served in the Israeli army, obtain a top secret clearance to be the White House chief of staff. Unbelievable.

Rahm Emanuel is Howard Stern’s first cousin. I’m more disturbed about that than his stint in the Israeli Army…. no kidding.

Deena – That is truely disturbing. Maybe there is a genetic factor at play.

Haili: You are aware that Emmanuel worked for years in the Clinton administration? And I am pretty sure that he was Jewish then, too. Along with Rubin?

Bush walked into a dream, he had a stong foundation to start with & he blew it. In 8 years America went from a thriving economic & powerful country to a country embedded into a recession, two wars & the largest government debt in American history to the laughing stock of the rest of the world. Bush chose a team of inexpereinced & maverick members to support him.

You can’t please everybody. Our next President didn’t choose him because of politics – he wanted to get the job done. Also, Rahm is a very close friend of his – which means he knows that he will have his best interest at heart. Besides, the man is VERY good at what he does. In the end it will all be revealed.
This will be a great team for America and the world – even if the Palestinians don’t see that right now.

WoW!
I want to know what is so objectionable about cleaning floors.
I have NEVER had the money to have someone clean my house.
I have always cleaned my OWN floors.
What a novel thought…
There is nothing wrong with cleaning floors.
There IS something wrong with looking down on those that clean floors.

He’s a perfect choice. Obama’s made a statement to Iran and the rest of the Middle East he’s no pushover.
Good cop; bad cop. I think Obama’s acknowledgment of his own weakness is extremely important.

It is so funny to read the comments from the Obama fanatics anytime they perceive the slightest bit of negativity in an article about their “flawless” leader. I’m happy that Obama is president, but the Obamabots are so over the top in their defense of everthing he says and does.

Wow…way to go Obama….you promise everyone CHANGE, and the middle east actually believe you, sent you campaign money and now you just showed them what you think of Hamas.

WHEN OBAMA GOT ELECTED, I REJOICED. THE NEXT DAY WHEN I HEARD OF HIS FIRST APPOINTMENT-RAHM EMANUEL, I WAS SOOOOO DISAPPOINTED.
LIKE PALIN, MCCAIN’S LOUSY CHOICE, OBAMA HAS OUTDONE HIM BY SELECTING A PRO IRAQ WAR PERSON AND PRO ISRAELI AGENDA MAN….THIS COUNTRY IS DOOMED!!!

First off, if you do the research, Emmanuel is for a 2-state solution. I think Obama will work harder than Bush to achieve this.
To be honest, a lot of whether peace will be achieved between Israel and the Palestinians during Obama’s term will be determined by the Israeli election in Feb. 2009, not the American one. I think if Livni wins, you will see progress. If Netanyahu wins, you will see “same old, same old”.
It’s amazing all the extremism out there….neo-cons who think Obama is the “anti-Christ”, people worried that he is too “anti-Israel”, then those who worry that is is “not pro-Israel enough”. Let the facts on the ground play out and give him a chance, I think what he is looking for simply is peace as any sane human being is.

I agree with Steve whole heartedly. I was shocked and disappointed with Obama choice of Rahm Emanuel. Not only that Rahm is a radical orthodox Zionist, which is a shocking choice, but also Obama could have chosen a more likable person to work with both republicams a democrats to move the country forward.
Obama choice made republicans in congress and else where load their guns for a confrontation with Rahm. Based on Rahm’s politixal record, he is very provocative, profane and partisan.
Obama lied through his campaign. He changed positions on free trade, off-shore drilling, accepting public funds, position form mid-east conflict, and Iraq. He changed positions based on how he can win by rallying people.
The media would have slaughtered any other candidate for changing positions on some of these issues, but the republicans high unpopularity, his eloquency and charisma made the media biased to his favor.
I didn’t vote for Obama or McCain. Still, I am shocked at Obama.

It’s look to me like more of the same!

EMANUEL IS CHIEF OF STAFF, NOT SECRETARY OF STATE. IF YOU ALL DID YOUR HOMEWORK YOU WOULD SEE THAT HE BELIEVES IN A PALESTIAN STATE. GIVE HIM A CHANCE BEFORE CONDEMING OBAMA’S CHOICE…I SUPPORTED OBAMA…NOT BECAUSE HE IS BLACK..BUT BECAUSE HE IS A HUMAN BEING WHOM I THINK WILL BE A GOOD PRESIDENT

Emanuel is a political pit bull and will be effective in rallying the support Obama need to create his “change.”
Emanuel is pro-Israel, the one democracy in the mid-east and the only reliable US ally in the region. Maybe if there was peace partner on the Palestinian there can be true peace… but look what happened to SADAT.
G-d Bless Obama and Israel and peace loving ARABS.
ALex (Houston, TX)

Additionally, I still think the reference to cleaning floors was elitist. The whole statement was ill-advised, in fact. I can just see my own father making such a statement. The sub-text, written to his friends, is: See, I told you my son supports Israel.
He shoulda kept his mouth shut. Like father like son I guess.

I thought they said earlier that Obama was anti-Isreal? Why all these attack now on his selection of Rahm Emanuel? Please lets give him time to do his job. Those who’re now saying they voted him and would never vote him again are even acting worse than Mcain during the financial crisis. I don’t expect Obama to do anything that’d ever question his patriotism to America again. He told everybody that he’s not going to work with people who would always go with him on every issue but those that can challenge his views all the time to make him lead better. I expect him to appoint people from other political leanings and race like Hispanics/Latinos, Asian and Arab Americans to balance his government and also reflect the coalition the brought about his presidency.

Very much to Rahm Emanuel’s credit, he called the Arab-American Anti-Disrimination Committee to apologize for his father’s comments: “From the fullness of my heart, I personally apologize on behalf of my family and me. These are not the values upon which I was raised or those of my family.” During the phone call, “Emanuel added, it is unacceptable to make remarks such as these against any ethnic or religious group.”
As for his serving in (or with) the Israeli Military, that concerned me at first, but considering that such service has in many cases brought (former) Israeli soldiers to become more open-minded and tolerant, Emanuel’s experience there might actually be a good thing.