Shocker — Aaron Klein attempts to tell more than one side of a story!
In an Oct. 29 WorldNetDaily article — in what may be his very first article critical of John McCain after dozens upon dozens attacking Barack Obama — Klein actually reported that, like Obama, McCain sat on a board that gave money to an organization tied to Rashid Khalidi, the Center for Palestine Research and Studies, as first reported by the Huffington Post (to which Klein provides no link). As we pointed out (which perhaps shamed Klein into doing this article), Klein has for months made a big deal out of the organization whose board Obama sat on giving money to a Khalidi organization.
But after a couple paragraphs of balance, Klein quickly insisted there was a difference:
Unreported by the Huffington Post is that the CPRS, with which Khalidi was for a time moderately involved, is pro-Western and can be characterized as pro-Israel.
Its work has been condemned by the Palestinian leadership and by local terror groups as “Zionist propaganda.”
In contrast, the Khalidi organization Obama helped fund as a board member for a nonprofit, alongside domestic terrorist William Ayers, has taken a flagrantly anti-Israel line. Khalidi’s Arab American Action Network has hosted scores of Israel-bashing events, including at least one reportedly attended by Obama.
What follows is Klein’s boilerplate bashing of Khalidi and Obama.
Klein describes Khalidi’s work with the CPRS as being “for a time moderately involved,” but he later writes that Khalidi was one of “seven Palestinian activists” who founded the group — which indicates Khalidi’s involvement was more than”moderate.”
By contrast, Klein offers no comparable gauge of involvement with the other Khalidi-linked group in question, the Arab American Action Network. Klein recites the group’s to “empower Chicago-area Arab immigrants and Arab Americans through the combined strategies of community organizing, advocacy, education and social services, leadership development, and forging productive relationships with other communities,” but rather than describe how it does that, he cherry-picks the allegedly “anti-Israel” events but offers no evidence there are “scores” of them, as he claimed.
Klein also stated that “The AAAN website currently states the entire site is under construction,” but we found it just fine — and found what the group does that Klein won’t tell his readers about. Among them:
- English as a Second Language
- Citizenship/Civics Education
- Domestic Violence Program
- After-School Program
- Summer Youth Camp
In other words, Klein’s depiction of the group as solely “anti-Israel” is highly misleading.
Klein suggests that the Khalidi connection taints Obama but not McCain, but he doesn’t explain why. After all, it’s the same man, is it not? If Khalidi was a bad man working for one group, why isn’t he a bad man working for the other?
Klein has shown a shred of integrity by finally reporting something negative about his (and his employer’s) chosen presidential candidate — though he would have shown more integrity had he reported it months ago, when he was obsessed by Khalidi’s connection to Obama. Now, will Klein go all the way and report to his readers McCain’s endorsement by Al Qaeda? Or is he trying to concoct a way to spin that too?