BOWLING GREEN, OH — At a rally at Bowling Green University, Sarah Palin launched into one of her most scathing attacks of the campaign questioning Barack Obama’s support of Israel by linking him to a Columbia University professor who also served as the spokesperson for the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
“Now interesting what we are finding out in the last couple days about this assortment of friends from Chicago that Barack–that Barack Obama has. In case you missed the latest item let me summarize.” Palin said, “It seems that there is yet another radical professor from the neighborhood who spent a lot of time with Barack Obama going back several years. This is important because his associate, Rashid Khalidi he in addition to being a political ally of Barack Obama he’s a former spokesperson for the Palestinian Liberation Organization.”
She then slammed the Los Angeles Times for refusing to release a tape that the newspaper’s editors say shows Obama praising Khalidi at a 2003 party. Khalidi has a history of expressing anti-Israel views. The newspaper reported on the banquet and Obama and Khalidi’s relationship in an article published six months ago. Palin then questioned what Obama may have said about Israel at the party directly questioning his support of the country.
“And the twist here is that there’s a videotape of a party for this person, back in 2003, a celebration of him, and Barack was there, and we know some very derogatory things were said there about Israel and America’s support for that great nation. And among other things, Israel was described there as the perpetrator of terrorism instead of the victim. What we don’t know, what we don’t know is how Barack Obama responded to these slurs on a country that he now professes to support, and the reason is the newspaper that has the tape, the Los Angeles Times, refuses to release it,” Palin said.
She then accused the L.A. Times of not releasing the tape because of a desire to protect the Democratic nominee and called on them to release the tapes stressing that “it’s not too late.”
“It must be nice for a candidate to have major news organizations looking after his best interests like that. Maybe some politicians would love to have a pet newspaper of their very own. In this case-in this case we have a newspaper willing to throw aside even the public’s right to know in order to protect a candidate that its own editorial board has endorsed.” Palin said, “And if there’s a Pulitzer Prize category for excelling in kowtowing, then the L.A. Times, you’re winning. But it’s not too late, and if there is an ounce of credibility there, if the newspaper wants to keep that shred of credibility, let alone its dignity, than I say the public has a right to know. Let’s go to the videotape, LA Times.”
The L.A. Times says its promise to a confidential source prevents the paper from releasing the video
At the same rally, Palin was joined on stage by the most famous plumber in history, Joe Wurzelbacher. Palin greeted Joe the Plumber warmly, but he did not speak instead standing silently next to GOP Vice-Presidential candidate as she delivered her remarks.
