He remembers introducing Barak Obama at a fundraiser for the Deheisha Palestinian camp near Bethlehem in the West Bank in 1999 - a time when numerous innocent Israeli citizens were shot to death by terrorists from that camp. In 2002 deadly suicide bombings were also planned and executed by Deheisha, one of which killed 11 and injured 50 mothers and babies (some critically).
Abunimah has described how he met Obama at the home of a [reportedly] former PLO activist, Columbia University professor Rashid Khalidi.
- "[Obama] came with his wife. That's where I had a chance to really talk to him," Abunimah recalled. "It was an intimate setting. He convinced me he was very aware of the issues [and] critical of US bias toward Israel and lack of sensitivity to Arabs. ...He was very supportive of US pressure on Israel.
- According to quotes obtained by Gulf News, Abunimah recalled a 2004 meeting in a Chicago neighborhood while Obama was running for his Senate seat. Abunimah quoted Obama telling him "warmly" he was sorry that "I haven't said more about Palestine right now, but we are in a tough primary race."
- "I'm hoping when things calm down, I can be more up front," Abunimah reportedly quoted the senator as saying.
- Abunimah said Obama urged him to "keep up the good work" at the Chicago Tribune, where Abunimah contributed guest columns that were highly critical of Israel.
- Abunimah serves on the board of the Arab American Action Network, or AAAN, a controversial Arab group that mourns the establishment of Israel as a "catastrophe" and supports intense immigration reform, including providing driver's licenses and education to illegal aliens.
- Ali Abunimah
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