Dear Friends,

I received an e-mail from a reader with regard to my June 12 article, “BEWARE OF HE WHO SPEAKS WITH A FORKED TONGUE”:

“Obama supporters respond to certain kinds of information about Obama with ­ “you have no proof.” And so, with regard to the Obama quote below ­ “I will stand with the Muslims…” can you provide a verifiable reference, please, i.e., a specific page number (chapter and verse, so to speak), in The Audacity of Hope where this statement appears.”

I’ll do better than that! Below, I will supply page numbers from Obama’s book.

I also received the following e-mail from F. Mutua Kilonzo (I am reproducing it in its entirety.):

“Hi, came across the following info. My prayer is that God will reveal Himself to whoever becomes the next US president and use him to do "His will on earth as it is in heaven" …Passages from Barack Obama’s Books: A recent e-mail forwarded to me allegedly quotes passages from Senator Obama’s books related to race and religion. The majority of these are alterations, deliberate manipulations, and in one case, an outright fabrication, of Obama’s words.”

I believe Mr. Kilonzo misinterpreted my Letter from Jerusalem from June 12, specifically the section that is entitled “In Obama’s Own Word’s.”

The following comes from a website by Obama supporters:

From Dreams From My Father: ‘I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mother’s race.’

Fact according to Obama:

Nothing close to this quote appears in Dreams from My Father.

‘There was something about him that made me wary, a little too sure of himself, maybe. And white.’

Fact according to Obama:

FULL QUOTE From Dreams From My Father:

"He offered to start me off at ten thousand dollars the first year, with a two-thousand-dollar travel allowance to buy a car; the salary would go up if things worked out. After he was gone, I took the long way home, along the East River promenade, and tried to figure out what to make of the man. He was smart, I decided. He seemed committed to his work. Still, there was something about him that made me wary. A little too sure of himself, maybe. And white–he’d said himself that that was a problem." [Page 142]

‘I never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didn’t speak to my own. It was into my father’s image, the black man, son of Africa, that I’d packed all the attributes I sought in myself, the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela.’

Fact according to Obama:

FULL QUOTE From Dreams From My Father:

"All my life, I had carried a single image of my father, one that I had sometimes rebelled against but had never questioned, one that I had later tried to take as my own. The brilliant scholar, the generous friend, the upstanding leader–my father had been all those things. All those things and more, because except for that one brief visit in Hawaii, he had never been present to foil the image, because I hadn’t seen what perhaps most men see at some point in their lives: their father’s body shrinking, their father’s best hopes dashed, their father’s face lined with grief and regret.

"Yes, I’d seen weakness in other men–Gramps and his disappointments, Lolo and his compromise. But these men had become object lessons for me, men I might love but never emulate, white men and brown men whose fates didn’t speak to my own. It was into my father’s image, the black man, son of Africa, that I’d packed all the attributes I sought in myself, the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela. And if later I saw that the black men I knew–Frank or Ray or Will or Rafiq–fell short of such lofty standards; if I had learned to respect these men for the struggles they went through, recognizing them as my own–my father’s voice had nevertheless remained untainted, inspiring, rebuking, granting or withholding approval. You do not work hard enough, Barry. You must help in your people’s struggle. Wake up, black man!

"Now, as I sat in the glow of a single light bulb, rocking slightly on a hard-backed chair, that image had suddenly vanished. Replaced by…what? A bitter drunk? An abusive husband? A defeated, lonely bureaucrat? To think that all my life I had been wrestling with nothing more than a ghost!" [Page 220]

‘I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.’

Fact according to Obama:

FULL QUOTE From Audacity of Hope:

"Whenever I appear before immigrant audiences, I can count on some good-natured ribbing from my staff after my speech; according to them, my remarks always follow a three-part structure: "I am your friend," "[Fill in the home country] has been a cradle of civilization," and "You embody the American dream." They’re right, my message is simple, for what I’ve come to understand is that my mere presence before these newly minted Americans serves notice that they matter, that they are voters critical to my success and full-fledged citizens deserving of respect.

"Of course, not all my conversations in immigrant communities follow this easy pattern. In the wake of 9/11, my meetings with Arab and Pakistani Americans, for example, have a more urgent quality, for the stories of detentions and FBI questioning and hard stares from neighbors have shaken their sense of security and belonging. They have been reminded that the history of immigration in this country has a dark underbelly; they need specific assurances that their citizenship really means something, that America has learned the right lessons from the Japanese internments during World War II, and that I will stand with them should the political winds shift in an ugly direction." [Page 260-261]

My comments to the above: please note that Obama does not really address himself to the actual quotes: “I will stand with the Muslims should the political wind shift in an ugly direction.” He proceeds to talk about newly minted Americans, full fledged citizens deserving of respect, Arabs and Pakistani Americans, and even about Japanese internments during World War II. BUT NOT ONE WORD ABOUT MUSLIMS!

Isn’t this a perfect example of Obama speaking with a “forked tongue”?

I leave it to you to determine whether I have in any way done Mr. Obama an injustice by quoting him in my Letters from Jerusalem.

I have quoted him exactly word for word and did not intend to smear him in anyway whatsoever.

Here is the link to the website, FIGHT THE SMEARS: http://my.barackobama.com/page/invite/therealquote

Dear friends, I would be most interested to have your input on this matter.

With Blessing and Love for Israel,

Ruth Matar

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Women For Israel’s Tomorrow  (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380
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