By Ali Alarabi
Is the McCain-Palin campaign getting desperate? Obviously they are and they are getting more than desperate with their ugly attacks on Palestinian American Colombia university professor Rashid Khalidi and his alleged new title as “Radical professor” or the false allegation that he was an alleged PLO spokesman.
By using Professor Khalidi’s heritage, and views in their attack on Obama the McCain-Palin team have sunk to new lows and have shown their ugly racism and true colors when it comes to minorities and specifically toward Arab Americans.
Through his public work and books, professor Khalidi is not shy about his Palestinian heritage or his commitment to justice to the Palestinian people. Its worth noting, aimed these divisive attacks, however, that Professor Khalidi’s family roots in Jerusalem are older than the state of Israel by at least one thousand years.
What’s ominous about Palin’s remarks is that it shows that to be an Arab in this country and more specifically a Palestinian, as in the case of professor Khalidi, is not cause of celebration. You will always find people who will accuse you being a terrorist or a radical or a fundamentalist or whatever fashionable word on the market that day to put you down even if you were caught eating a falafel sandwich.
During Palin’s disturbing campaign remarks against Obama supposed “ties” to professor Khalidi she went out of her way to defend the state of Israel against any criticism no matter how legitimate the criticism is.
To support Israel is one thing, but to alleviate the state of Israel above all kind of criticism even when this state violates international law and uses American money to do so, is another. To put Israel on some kind of pedestal and above everything is an irresponsible to say the least.
Governor Palin is perhaps unaware that the Middle East does include other countries and other people besides the state of Israel, and even more important than Israel and that in order for peace to take hold in that region, people like governor Palin and Senator McCain ought to recognize the humanity of the Arab peoples and to acknowledge that the Palestinian people are the victims of a historic injustice that must be righted.
What we are witnessing at this stage of the election campaign, is a campaign in deep trouble and placing Senator McCain presidential hopes on tenterhooks.
This is obvious from the governor behavior throughout this campaign in which she clearly stated to media outlets that she did not come in to this campaign for nothing. Media reports also talked about governor Plain’s insincere commitment to this campaign Instead she is in it to position herself for future presidential campaign. This might give us a since of understanding of why governor Palin acts like a diva or a runaway train.
Senator McCain should stand firm against anti-Arab racism and condemn those attacks on professor Khalidi and Arab Americans who were offended by Palin’s ugly words.
-Ali Alarabi is an Arab American writer and journalist, member of Arab writers group syndicate. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com. Contact him at: alialarabi1@aol.com.