Obama's first pick: Israeli Rahm Emanuel as chief of staff

**crayon** · 11-07-2008

A day after his historic election to become the first black American president, Barack Obama stepped into the role of president-elect yesterday, inviting Rahm Emanuel to join his administration as White House chief of staff, Democratic officials said.

Emanuel, a former Bill Clinton adviser, is the son of a Jerusalem-born pediatrician who was a member of the Irgun (Etzel or IZL), a militant Zionist group that operated in Palestine between 1931 and 1948.

Obama intends to announce key cabinet and staff staff members in the next few days to ensure a swift transition to the White House in January, which would allow him to deal with the global economic crisis as quickly as possible.

If Emanuel accepts, he will return to the White House, where he served as a political and policy adviser to Clinton. Emanuel is the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives as the Democratic Caucus chairman.

Emanuel knows Obama from his hometown Chicago and headed the special team that planned the midterm elections in 2006, in which the Democrats recaptured a Congressional majority.

Emanuel also served as inspiration for the fictional character Joshua "Josh" Lyman, the deputy White House chief of staff, played by Bradley Whitford on the television drama "The West Wing."

...................(deleted boring stuff, if you want to read the whole thing it's in the linked article).....

"Obama is a pro-Israeli leader and will be a friend to Israel," he said, adding that he was pleased with Obama's election. He also said his son is the namesake of Rahamim, a Lehi combatant who was killed.

source

Yup..

**Keltoi** · 11-21-2008

Originally Posted by nocturnal

When your family has been blown up in front of your eyes, your house bulldozed, your livelihood decimated, you have no weapons to fight with, no forseeable future, nothing more to live for in life, then as a human being, we all are capable of doing irrational things. Look at the underlying reasons, not what they cause.

I'm afraid the civilians in Israel don't have that luxury. Neither does the U.S., who saw 3,000 citizens die in a terrorist attack. Neither does the U.K, who saw its citizens killed by terrorists, nor Spain...and the list goes on. Terrorism, regardless of the justifications, cannot be condoned or coddled.

**Argamemnon** · 11-21-2008

Originally Posted by Izyan

So because his dad was a member of Irgun that makess him evil? Do you blame Osama Bin Laden on his father? Emanuel was instrumental with helping Clinton push Israel to accept Oslo Accords.

The Oslo accords were fundamentally unfair to Palestinians. Unfortunately, that's not how it was portrayed in the media. People don't know the details of the accord.

**Argamemnon** · 11-22-2008

Originally Posted by Gator

Yes we've seen them, but they are given a pro-Israeli context neatly provided by "Le Resistance".

What do you expect from an unarmed people that is brutally oppressed?

**Argamemnon** · 11-22-2008

Originally Posted by Keltoi

I'm afraid the civilians in Israel don't have that luxury. Neither does the U.S., who saw 3,000 citizens die in a terrorist attack. Neither does the U.K, who saw its citizens killed by terrorists, nor Spain...and the list goes on. Terrorism, regardless of the justifications, cannot be condoned or coddled.

What about Palestinian civilians? What about the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians; what about US and Israeli state terrorism?

**Roxy8491** · 11-22-2008

Originally Posted by Argamemnon

What about Palestinian civilians? What about the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians; what about US and Israeli state terrorism?

What about the millions of Iraqi civilians who were killed by Saddam? I know the US is not innocent, but why is it that America haters on this site never mention or whine about the people killed by Saddam. What about the people raped, murdered, and tortured by his regime? Why is everything ok for everyone as long as they're not American?

At least America doesn't go out and say: let's try and kill some civilians! Let's target women and children! The Muslim terrorists do that. They kill way more Muslims than Americans any day anyways. Why doesn't anyone complain about that?

**Argamemnon** · 11-22-2008

Originally Posted by Roxy8491

What about the millions of Iraqi civilians who were killed by Saddam? I know the US is not innocent, but why is it that America haters on this site never mention or whine about the people killed by Saddam. What about the people raped, murdered, and tortured by his regime? Why is everything ok for everyone as long as they're not American?

At least America doesn't go out and say: let's try and kill some civilians! Let's target women and children! The Muslim terrorists do that. They kill way more Muslims than Americans any day anyways. Why doesn't anyone complain about that?

If I was debating with Muslims I would criticize them for this, but I'm debating with non-Muslims who made some bizarre claims (no offense). And let me tell you that you are wrong, if you really think that the Israeli (or US) military never targets innocent people.

**Roxy8491** · 11-22-2008

Originally Posted by Argamemnon

If I was debating with Muslims I would criticize them for this, but I'm debating with non-Muslims who made some bizarre claims (no offense). And let me tell you that you are wrong, if you really think that the Israeli (or US) military never targets innocent people.

Argamemnon I got your message but it won't let me respond since I haven't made 50 posts yet. So I'll just respond here.

Yes I am a Muslim but I am a revert.

And finding myself very disturbed at some posts on this site. Not necessarily yours specifically, but at the general trend of a lot of people here to be terrorist sympathizers. I've been looking through some different threads about world affairs and whenever someone criticizes Muslim terrorism, someone attacks the US instead of disowning the terrorism? And yes I think you're wrong if you are suggesting that our foreign policy consists of killing women and children. There may be casualties, and a few kooks in the government, but compare this to Al Qaeda, whose sole purpose is to kill as many civilians as they can.

I'm disappointed in the Ummah on this matter.