A letter was sent via e-mail to the Associated Press and UrbanConservative.com offering a $150,000 reward for the person who can provide the video of Senator Barack Obama that is being held by the Los Angeles Times. The video is of a 2003 party Obama attended for a Palestinian-American professor and critic of Israel, Rashid Khalidi.
The content of the e-mail was as follows:
Attached you will find a $150,000.00 USD reward letter applicable to any
individual or company that releases the video of Senator Barack Obama
held by the Los Angeles Times.My intentions are to make the video public exclusively through the media
outlet of my choice with no motives or requirement for recognition.
Attached to the e-mail was the following scanned letter:
Also in attendance at the event in question were the following individuals:
Those who attended (the guest list):
1. AAAN (Arab American Action Network)
2. Not In My Name
3. Ali Abunimah (a Palestinian rights activist in Chicago who helps run Electronic Intifada, who met Obama in 2000)
4. Bernadine Dorhn and Bill Ayers
5. Barack Obama
6. Mayor of Chicago Richard Daley
7. Rashid Khalidi
8. Mona Khalidi
9. Gihad Ali, a Palestinian spoken word poet
10. NPR Worldview host Jerome McDonnell (not McDonald as written in the e-mail)
11. Camilia Odeh (director of SWYC Southwest Youth Collaborative)
12. Sanabel debka troupe (traditional Palestinian dance group)
13. Hatem Abudayyeh
14. Others - Up to 50 to 500, possibly 600 guests (based on Burbank Manor's seating capacity capabilities)
Earlier Wednesday, John McCain's campaign accused the Los Angeles Times of "intentionally suppressing" a videotape they obtained of a 2003 banquet where Barack Obama spoke of his close friendship with Rashid Khalidi, a leading Palestinian scholar, activist, and PLO sympathizer.