The John McCain campaign is demanding that the Los Angeles Times release a videotape showing Barack Obama at an event in Chicago honoring a Palestinian activist who reportedly served as a spokesman for Yasser Arafat.
As Newsmax reported on Tuesday, the 2003 event was a farewell party for Rashid Khalidi, who was leaving the University of Chicago to take a position at Columbia University in New York.
Obama, then an Illinois state senator, lavished praise on Khalidi at the party, as did unrepentant terrorist Bill Ayers, according to Andrew C. McCarthy, contributing editor at National Review, who disclosed Khalidi’s link to “master terrorist” Arafat. The Times confirmed in April that it had a copy of the videotape.
Several hours after the Newsmax story appeared, McCain spokesman Michael Goldfarb said: “A major news organization is intentionally suppressing information that could provoke a clearer link between Barack Obama and Rashid Khalidi.”
The videotape, he said, could show how Obama responded to a poem recited by a young Palestinian at the party accusing Israel of “terrorism” in its treatment of Palestinians and sharply criticizing U.S. support of Israel. If Palestinians cannot secure their own land, she said, “then you will never see a day of peace.”
Goldfarb called the poem “hate speech,” adding: “The election is one week away, and it’s unfortunate that the press so obviously favors Barack Obama that this campaign must publicly request that the Los Angeles Times do its job — make information public.”
The newspaper hasn’t explained why it won’t release the video, according to Ben Smith of Politico.com.
Times spokeswoman Nancy Sullivan told Smith: “When we reported on the tape six months ago, that was our full report.”
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