Obama Middle East Policy Advisor Held Talks With Hamas
May 10th, 2008 at 11:20am Matt Margolis
…and now Obama’s campaign is on damage control, “severing ties” with the advisor.
A Middle East policy adviser for Barack Obama has left the campaign after acknowledging having held talks with Hamas, FOX News confirms.
The Times newspaper in London first reported Friday that the campaign was severing ties with the adviser, Robert Malley.
Malley said he had been in contact with the Palestinian group, but only through his work for a “conflict resolution think tank,” and not on behalf of the Obama campaign, the newspaper reported.
While the Obama camp attempts to downplay the role the advisor had in the campaign, it hardly seems coincidence that one of his advisors would engage in talks with the terrorist organization, afterall, Hamas did endorse Obama.
Hamas, which is labeled a terrorist organization by the State Department, is a touchy issue for the Obama campaign.
Hamas adviser Ahmed Yousef said in a recent interview, “We like Mr. Obama, we hope that he will win the election,” and presumptive Republican nominee John McCain has poked fun at Obama for the apparent endorsement.
Entry Filed under: Campaign 2008, Democrats
11 Comments
1. Mark Noonan | May 10th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
I wish I could say I’m surprised…but given that Obama has close, personal ties to a domestic terrorist, its no shock to find that some of his troops have ties to foreign terrorists.
2. Baton Rouge | May 10th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Oh please not the WeatherUnderground thing again. Where in your belief system Mark does it say the only people who can change for the better are the people that you like?
3. News » Obama Middle&hellip | May 10th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
[…] TVaholic.com wrote an interesting post today on Obama Middle East Policy Advisor Held Talks With HamasHere’s a quick excerptA Middle East policy adviser for Barack Obama has left the campaign after acknowledging having held talks with Hamas, FOX News confirms. […]
4. Danish Artist | May 10th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Baton Rouge, another bone-head loser from the daily pitchfork. These people must have nothing better to do than spread their bs away from their hysterical website. Another one who can’t stick to the topic.
Bombings of the Pentagon, Capital Building and police stations committed by an individual who got off due to a technicality - then later seen stomping on the American flag and stating just after 9/11 he didn’t do enough. When did this “change” take place? Is this the “change we can believe in?”
Well, six years or less. As far as libs are concerned a person (from the right) can never change, but liberal forgiveness of other liberals can happen overnight.
Obama’s relationship with the domestic terrorist was just “someone who lived in the neighborhood”. He still hasn’t answered why did he have to begin his political career in speaking to this man.
People on the right have been “convicted” and “unforgiven” both those on the left for less.
5. Obama » Obama Middl&hellip | May 10th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
[…] Obsidian Wings wrote an interesting post today on Obama Middle East Policy Advisor Held Talks With HamasHere’s a quick excerptA Middle East policy adviser for Barack Obama has left the campaign after acknowledging having held talks with Hamas, FOX News confirms. […]
6. John Ryan | May 10th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Mark the majority of the people in Israel want diresct talks with Hamas. How do you feel about that ?
7. Kurt | May 10th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
First, a Hamas spokesman give a glowing endorsement of Obama, then we find out that one of his advisors is talking to Hamas, then Obama says he has visited 57 states.
Talk about losing your bearings.
8. Baton Rouge | May 10th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Having examined the conflict between Hamas and the israeli government from close and far I would have to say that like most Americans Danish Artists you very little about which you speak. You have no idea the roots of the Palestinian beef with the Israelis and how similar it is to the beef the Cubans in Miami have with the Communists running Cuba. Israel took the land they occupy now by force in 1948 and the rest of the world in an honorable act of sympathy for what the Jewish people had suffered at the hands of the Drittes Reich turned their back. The Palestinians never wishing to have any harder days work governing themselves were suckered by the british in 1922 and blindsided by the might of men like Ben Gurion and Dayan in ‘48.
But the plight of the Palestinian people many of them Christians remians a horror show that plays out in the streets of Gaza every day. If you solve the problems of the people in Israel and in Gaza and the West bank you will have peace. If your view of the world is similar to that of AIPAC who is in the business of profiting from the continued killing well then there you go again.
You know nothing more about Israel than that they are in appearance as the sole democracy de facto in the Middle East the clear favorite over all those Arabs and Persians. Many have posited the question at the DBDP in the past to men like you, “Where are Israel’s nuclear weapons pointed.” And not once has any neocon been willing to dip even a single toe into that boiling water.
9. uhhuh | May 10th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Didn’t McCain recently fire an active Hezbollah supporter from his staff?
10. 42 | May 10th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
McCain just fired Ali Jawad, who has said he “rejects talk that Hezbollah is a terrorist organization that should be shunned by the United States and other governments. ‘Killing innocent people — we reject that,’Hezbollah does not fit this category. It has protected its people.”
Not only did McCain have this guy on his staff, but he was also a former Bush finance committee member.
but that’s ok right? no double standard here
11. Blogs For Victory »&hellip | May 29th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
[…] has his own issues with campaign officials and advisors, such as the advisor who recently left after it was reported he held talks with Hamas. But, there’s also this story, reported yesterday by The Washington Post, about […]