… that was reportedly made by your father, Benjamin Emanuel, to the Israeli newspaper Ma’ariv in response to your appointment as Obama’s White House Chief of Staff:
- “Obviously he will influence the president to be pro-Israel… Why wouldn’t he be? What is he, an Arab? He’s not going to clean the floors of the White House.”
(HT: B of Moon of Alabama)
In many Jewish-Israeli circles, including apparently the Irgun/Likud circles the elder Emanuel has been associated with for many decades, “Arab work” is associated with doing all the dirty or hard work, very frequently carried out by members of Israel’s substantial ethnically Palestinian (Arab) minority, that allows so many of Jewish Israelis, nowadays, to live lives of relative ease and prosperity.
But Rahm Emanuel is not just a provincial-minded Jewish Israeli. He is also a US citizen. Indeed, he’s about to rise to one of the highest positions in our country.
There is a good question as to whether anyone occupying such a sensitive position in Washington ought to also hold the citizenship of a foreign country– or whether, in the circumstances, Rahm Emanuel should lay down his foreign citizenship.
But there is no question in my mind that Rahm Emanuel needs to distance himself rapidly, completely, and convincingly from the racist sentiment expressed by his father.
Of course we can’t hold any individual responsible for the sins or sentiments of his fathers. But given the many questions that quite legitimately swirl around this controversial appointment of a dual citizen to WH Chief of Staff, the very least we can request of Rahm Emanuel is that he publicly disavow these ugly racist sentiments. And then, that he and more importantly the president-elect whom he serves should ensure that all high-level appointments and policies are quite untainted by the ugly divisiveness of anti-Arab or anti-Muslim discrimination that have marked far too much of US public life for years now.
Being “pro-Israel”, as Rahm Emanuel has always proudly been, does not in any way involve a requirement to be “anti-Arab”– far less to demean Arabs and Muslims in public or to pursue exclusionary or discourse-suppressing policies. Being “pro-Israel” should absolutely not be considered as being in a “zero sum game” relationship with being “pro-Arab.” Wise leaders and peacemakers should seek to be “pro” both sets of people.
President-elect Obama will very soon, I hope, be calling on Israelis, Palestinians, and other Arabs to escape from the long-turning cycles of violence, oppression, and fear they’ve lived in for so long and to build new relationships with each other that are inclusive, generous, and accord equal rights to all persons, regardless of religion or ethnicity.
So the very least he can do at this crucial point is start to model (and if necessary enforce) just such an approach in the makeup and conduct of his own administration.
On a related note: Today’s WaPo carries, on its front page, a very moving profile of Eugene Allen, an African American who worked many years in the kitchens at the White House, starting in 1952 and finally rising to become butler.
The writer, Wil Haygood, traces the appalling history of the discrimination to which African Americans have always, until very recently, been subjected inside the White House.
Dr. Benjamin Emanuel, and our president-elect, Barack Hussein Obama, would both profit a lot by reading and reflecting on this article. Oh, correct that. Obama already knows and understands that history of marginalization, hard work, and belittlement.
But does his new chief of staff?
I take pity on like minded human beings such as Enanuel senior, their racism seems to be a motivational requirement that they instill in their children. With time it might get embedded in their genes .
Rather than spewing venomous comments when the whole world is ecstatic with the promise of “change”, it will have been far more effective to spew a positive one. Apparently hate distort the mind of his likes, but the ripple effects of these like minded people affect humanity for years to come.
Nazism comes to mind.
Don’t blame the son for the father’s sins…
If my father would utter a racist comment I would never apologize on his behalf, nor would I feel obliged to distance myself publicly from him. People just need to understand that people are individuals and kinship doesn’t imply guilt by association…
First of all, on what do you base your assertion that Rahm Emanuel holds dual citizenship?
I think that it is quite presumptutous on your part to interpret Dr. Emanuel’s quoted remarks as “racist”. In fact, the quote you cite in the Jerusalem Post was mistranslated from the original Hebrew in which Dr. Emanual says: “It’s clear that he will influence the President to be pro-Israel. Why shouldn’t he [Ram] do that [influence the President]. What is he, an Arab? He’s not going to clean floors at the White House [i.e. his job is an influential one].” I don’t think that that is prima facie a racist statement, and it certainly does not justify your tirade on “provincial-minded Jewish Israelis”. Further, I haven’t seen anywhere where either the elder Emanuel or his son have been associated with, what you call, “Likud/Irgun circles” for decades. Dr. Emanuel was a member of the Irgun. So what? Uri Avneri was a member of Lehi back in the 1940s, but he hasn’t held those views for the past 60 years.
” ‘What is he, an Arab? He’s not going to clean floors at the White House [i.e. his job is an influential one].’ I don’t think that that is prima facie a racist statement…”
JES, you think wrong.
It is so hard for pro-Israel folk to see the log in their own eye.
in response to your rahm emmanual rant, with all due respect, perhaps you should calm down a bit. that shrill attack on rahm was unjustified. you don’t offer a shred of evidence that he’s “anti” arab or guilty of racism. he was a hardworking member of the clinton administration and a hardworking congressman. i’m sure he’ll do a fine job as chief of staff.
and for the record, i don’t recall you posting a shrill post demanding that cynthia mckinney disavow what clearly were racist anti-jewish comments during the campaign she lost.
seriously, get a grip
Rahm Emanuel was a voluteer in the IDF during the first Gulf war – could he do that without being a citizen of Israel? besides, his mother is Israeli and her offspring can become citizens of Israel any time they want, if my understanding of their laws is accurate.
Rahm Emanuel is one of the most hawkish members of the Democratic party. He has been one of the most enthusiastic proponents of the use of military violence, including against Iraq, and Iran. He is militantly pro-Israel, and has cheered on Israel in its criminally destructive and deadly attack on Lebanon in 2006, and its inhuman strangulation of the human beings who try to live in Gaza.
He is no friend to Arabs to be sure.
What specifically were the racist anti-jewish remarks Cynthia McKinney made? And provide a source, please.
White House Chief of Staff and dual citizenship?
That’s something new….will the Chief of Staff get dual office? for each citizenship one?
President Obama should be made aware of this blog,
Reading Shirin comment there may be conflict of interest in Mr.Emanuel position.
“Dictionary of Racism”: Perhaps it is hard for you and other anti-Zionists to “see the log” in front of your eye (whatever that means)? I stand by my interpretation – perhaps I should call myself “Dictionary of Knee-Jerk, Anti-Zionist Crap” to give myself some authority? Helena’s tirade was quite unjustified.
“tombs11”:
Rahm Emanuel was a voluteer in the IDF during the first Gulf war – could he do that without being a citizen of Israel?
Sure he could, and he did. He volunteered as a civilian worker, not as a soldier.
For the record, it seems to me that many Americans, and others, have volunteered to fight in foreign struggles over the past 70 years. They volunteered for the Loyalists in Spain. They flew for the RAF while Charles Lindburgh and others protested with the slogan: “No war for England. No war for Jews”. They volunteered to help Castro rid Cuba of Batista.
“…his mother is Israeli and her offspring can become citizens of Israel any time they want, if my understanding of their laws is accurate.”
Your understanding of Rahm Emanuel’s backround is wrong. It’s his father, not his mother, who is a former Israeli. But so what? If I understand the Irish citizenship laws correctly, then John F. Kennedy could have received Irish citizenship any time he wanted. Further, if I understand shari’a law, Barack Obama is considered born a Muslim because his father was Muslim (and the act of marriage made his mother a Muslim as well), and by some interpretations, he is an apostate and subject to severe penalties. Does this mean that he is not fit to be President?
What specifically were the racist anti-jewish remarks Cynthia McKinney made? And provide a source, please.
Actually, much like this case, it was McKinney’s father, Bill McKinney, who made the remarks on Atlanta television, and these remarks were far more explicit and far less open to interpretation:
“That ain’t nothin’. Jews have bought everybody. Jews. J. E. W. S.”
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/opinion/baroneweb/mb_020829.htm
McKinney never repudiated this statement, or her father’s assertions. In fact, despite the fact that there never was any proof whatsoever that AIPAC or other Jewish organiztions went out of their way to target McKinney, she rode this myth back into office in another district. Subsequently, she lost that seat when her constituents – wisely in my opinion – voted her out of office following an incident in which she assaulted a Capitol Hill police officer.
Re. your concerns over Rahm Emanuel’s appointment as White House Chief of Staff, I don’t recall anyone complaining about “conflict of interest” when John Sununu – an Arab-American of Palestinian Heritage – was appointed to that post by George H.W. Bush. I think that the position is one of the most complex and demanding in the administration (particularly for a president with such little demonstrated executive experience and such monumental, almost messianic, expectations). I don’t think that Rahm Emanuel’s ethnic or religious background constitutes much of a concern considering the overwhelming wealth of non-Israel related issues that his boss will face.
To JES:
If Mr. Emmanuel meant to simply say:
“Why shouldn’t [Ram][influence the President]. He’s not going to clean floors at the White House.”
Then, what is this bit doing in there?
“What is he, an Arab?”
Who is Mr Emmanuel referring to? Obama? Rahm?
If its Rahm – the sequence of his words implies a connection between being Arab and cleaning floors.
If you cannot explain it and still insist on your translation, then Mr.Emmanuel has had stroke and is speaking gibberish.
White House Chief of Staff and dual citizenship?
That’s something new….will the Chief of Staff get dual office? for each citizenship one?
President Obama should be made aware of this blog,
Reading Shirin comment there may be conflict of interest in Mr.Emanuel position.
Again, Sergi, there’s no evidence whatsoever that Rahm Emanuel has dual citizenship or carries an Israeli passport. (According to the same Ma’ariv article cited in the “Jerusalem Post”, Dr. Emanuel even mused that Rahm doesn’t speak Hebrew fluently.) As I recall, the same charges were brought up against Secretary of HLS Michael Chertoff, because his mother held Israeli citizenship and served as an El Al flight attendant prior to his birth. They were never substantiated, and likely false.
As I have pointed out, the same assertions could be made in relation to the President-Elect due to his foreign-born father, but I don’t think we want to go there.
Finally, I don’t think that Obama is unaware of Emanuel’s family history or his personal political positions. After all, they’ve known each other for years. I also don’t think that the President-elect has the time to look at this blog or for Helena’s tirades or Shirin’s rantings.
Satya, I think that you have to understand that Dr. Emanuel wasn’t reading prepared remarks from a teleprompter. He was speaking – likely over the phone – to a journalist. His remarks are clear. He is asking “What is he, an Arab?” in relation to the fact that Rahm Emanuel is a Jew with close family connections to Israel. I’m certain that, if Dr. Emanuel had been asked about John Sununu, he would have also said, “What is he, a Jew? He wasn’t appointed to wash floors at the White House.”
You can parse this any way you’d like. It still does not justify the tirade that Helena went into against Rahm Emanuel and his father – particularly the (false) assertion that he holds dual citizenship or the unsubstantiated assertion that either he or his father travel in “Likud/Irgun” circles. In fact, according to the biography on Wikipedia, Rahm Emanuel’s mother was the daughter of a union organizer and a former civil rights activist. Perhaps Rahm was influenced by her as well?
It was a great event for Afro Americans, granted. An injustice at long last repaired. At last, a normal situation, a normal election. A candidate elected on his merits.
But the appointment of Rahm Emanuel is a bad omen. He could be an Israeli and be a good person, but is he? and does an Israeli belong in the White House?
Palestinians do not ask for any favours, they only want justice. Nothing else.
As a non-fan of Rahm Emanuel, it seems to me that the more innocuous interpretation of his father’s remarks is plausible. Benjamin Emanuel could have said “What is he, an Arab?” to emphasize that Rahm’s advice would be pro-Israeli, and “he’s not going to clean the floors” to emphasize that Rahm’s advice would have influence.
In such cases I think it’s better to give the benefit of the doubt.
I do not agree with you No Preference, it was not an innocent remark.
Emanuel does not have to apologize on behalf of his father but he could put pressure on his father and get him to apologize.
The father’s remark reflects badly on the son, if he cares at all.
“Fate and history: The same day that Spain denied the son of Osama Bin Laden political asylum, Obama appointed the son of an Irgun terrorist as his Chief of Staff. Osama’s son declared that he did not agree with his father’s actions or opinions. Rahm Israel Emmanuel is an Israel-firster, a pro-war DLC hack and a bully. Not an auspicious start.”
Tariq Ali
The world is watching and the expectations are sound!!!
Here we go again. That is what a divorce from an Arab did to Helena’s mind. The husband is no longer in her life but the poison remains.
Lies and innuendo are justified when it comes to her chronic obsession. The dual allegiance canard from a sad lady that holds a Euro citizenship, and her own multinational/muticultural offspring.
And the usual losers come out of the closet as an eco chamber. Between doers like Rahm and losers like Helena and this chorus it is a no brainer.
Here we go again..
A cry from the occupied land, PALESTINE
“Come to Israel, grab its stupid leadership by the throat and take its foot off the neck of another people. Come and force us to do what is clear, and written, and fitting, and necessary, come and get us out of the Territories.”
a cry to Obama from an “ISRAELI” woman who lives on occupied territories and suffers from the likes of Rahm’s father and to alesser degree Titus who shoot the messenger rather than the message.
We do not want Rahm to neither clean the floors of the White House nor influence pro-Israeli policies. We want him to work as an American. Enough, the audacity of hate must END .
JES, How about applying your fine abilities at semantic analysis to the oft-quoted statement of Ahmedinejad’s — about “sweeping Israel off the map”. Just what did the man actually say?
How about applying your fine abilities at semantic analysis to the oft-quoted statement of Ahmedinejad’s — about “sweeping Israel off the map”. Just what did the man actually say?
Gladly. How about I paraphrase the little monkey? As his beloved imam said: May the reactionary regime currently ruling Tehran disappear from the pages of time.
the very least we can request of Rahm Emanuel is that he publicly disavow these ugly racist sentiments.
i have no idea whether rahm emanuel responded as a result of any ‘requests’ but it appears he, unlike some of the clueless posters here, definitely understood the racist implications of his fathers comments. i suggest the post be updated to reflect his response.
Emanuel Apologizes for Father’s ‘Arab’ Comments