[R-G] ADC on Anti-Arab Remarks of Emanuel’s Father

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

<http://joshualandis.com/blog/?p=1542>
ADC on Anti-Arab remarks of Emmanuel's father
Tuesday, November 11th, 2008

I just received the following email from the ADC:

    The American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee urges you to take
immediate action by using the contact info below to express your
disappointment to President-Elect Obama and Congressman Rahm Emmanuel
for the detestable anti-Arab remarks Emmanuel's father made this past
week.

    ADC wrote a letter [LINK: <http://www.adc.org/PDF/rahm.pdf>] to
Congressman Emmauel and President-Elect Barack Obama asking the
congressman to publicly repudiate the derogatory comments his father
made. Benjamin Emmanuel was quoted by numerous Israeli and American
publications [LINK:
<http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1108/Emanuel_Sr_also_not_shy.html>]
as saying  "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."

    There should be no place for such demeaning rhetoric and these
comments are contrary to the very type change the President-Elect
promised he would bring to America.

    Contact President-Elect Obama by fax at 202.228.5417 or through
this online contact form [LINK: <http://change.gov/page/s/contact>].

    Contact Congressman Emmanuel by fax at 202.225.5603 or via E-mail
at emma.jurado at mail.house.gov

Here is some language I wrote up the a few days ago that may be useful
in formulating a response:

The anti-Arab remark made by Rahm Emanuel's father is not consistent
with the spirit of change and ethnic equality that President Elect
Obama promises to bring to the White House. Arab Americans have put
great hope in his election. They believe that they have a part to play
in building a new and more equal America.

A public statement by Rahm Emanuel explaining that he does not approve
of his father's remark would go a long way in reassuring us that the
president elect and new administration value Arab Americans. We all
hope to move beyond the divisiveness of the past to create a future of
mutual respect. By distancing himself from his father's remark, Rahm
Emanuel will demonstrate that he does not share his father's opinion
of Arabs and will help the new administration act as an honest broker
in the Middle East and at home.