Found this in the 'International Jerusalem Post' under the headline, "Emanuel 'sorry' for dad's Arab remarks", "Last week, Benjamin Emanuel talked about his son Rahm Emanuel's new job and told the Israeli daily that "obviously he'll influence the president to be pro-Israel. Why wouldn't he? What is he, an Arab? He's not going to be mopping floors at the White House."(1) Remember, Rahm, or "Rhambo" Emanuel? He is the guy who joined the IDF in 1991, whose father was in the Irgun during the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, who voiced his support for the Iraq war in 2003, who supported Israel in 2006 when it indiscriminately bombed the Lebanon and who Obama, the "change" man, has nominated as his Chief of Staff.
Anyway, no need to worry, Rahm, a former Israeli citizen, has apologised for his father's remarks. After an outcry from the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, he phoned Mary Rose Oakar, president of the aforementioned committee and said, "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." He also offered to meet representatives of the group at an appropriate time.(2) One wonders though if Rahm's dad, who according to Rahm last week will be so proud of him, knows that Rahm's boss is a black man.
Finally, my own suspicions concerning Rahm are less to do with his racist father's remarks and in his favour, I would have to say that people in my own family have said some really really stupid things, ....... just envisaging me now as the PM's spin man and apologising for something a certain mad uncle of mine once said about Catholics. That, though is an entirely different story!
1 http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1226404732260 pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
2 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1037256.html
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