Jackson denies report by controversial columnist
Ron Kampeas, JTA, Oct 16 2008
The Rev. Jesse Jackson and Amir Taheri, a conservative whose writings about the Middle East have a habit of coming undone, collided this week, and sparks were flying. Jackson said his views were distorted in an article by Taheri that quoted the Democrat as saying “Zionists” would lose their influence under an Obama administration. Jackson’s denials did not keep Republicans from trying to use the remarks against Obama in a fraught presidential election. The report in Tuesday’s New York Post by Taheri said Jackson told the first World Policy Forum last week in Evian, France, that “Zionists who have controlled American policy for decades” would lose influence under Obama, that Obama promised “fundamental changes” in US foreign policy, that the most important changes would take place in the Middle East, where a President Obama would end “decades of putting Israel’s interests first,” and that if the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is not resolved, the Middle East will “remain a source of danger to us all.” Taheri also quoted Jackson as saying, in an interview they conducted after Jackson delivered his remarks,
Barack is determined to repair our relations with the world of Islam and Muslims. Thanks to his background and ecumenical approach, he knows how Muslims feel while remaining committed to his own faith.
Jackson was quick to label the article a distortion, saying, in a statement released Wednesday by his Rainbow Push coalition,
The recent column in the New York Post by Amir Taheri in no way represents my views on Middle East peace and security. The writer is selectively imposing his own point of view, and distorting mine. I have a long-held position of a two-state solution to achieve peace in the Middle East. I stand forthrightly for the security and stability of Israel, its protection from any form of hostility, and a peaceful, non-violent resolution to co-existing with its Palestinian neighbors.
Jackson also accused Taheri of seeking to “incite fear and division.” Sources close to Jackson said some of the quotes in Taheri’s article were fabricated — Jackson never used the term “Zionists,” for instance, they said. It was unclear if Taheri claimed to be in the room when Jackson made his remarks, or if others had reported the remarks to the writer. In an editorial Thursday, the New York Post stood by the Jackson story, noting that in his statement, Jackson did not directly deny the quotes. “He meant what he said,” an editorial said, “until things blew up in his face. Jesse Jackson needs to shut up and realize that his biggest enemy is his mouth.”
Taheri, a favorite of conservatives who back confrontation with Iran, has a controversial past. Some of his writings on his native Iran have been debunked by experts as based on fabrications and distortions. Canada’s National Post apologized for his 2006 report, that Iranian leaders planned to force Jews to wear a yellow insignia, after the claim proved unfounded. More recently, Taheri reported that Obama had tried secretly to persuade Iraqi leaders to stall the withdrawal of US troops, in order to prevent the White House from earning a success. Obama’s campaign and the White House both denied the substance of the report, and the Democratic camp accused Taheri of being in the pocket of the mcCain campaign. “Jesse Jackson confirmed the Jewish community’s long-standing concerns with Barack Obama’s policies on Israel and the Middle East,” the Republican Jewish Coalition said in a statement. The AJC chimed in, without first checking the veracity of the report, Jackson’s advisers told JTA. “Rev. Jackson’s remarks, which appeared in an interview with the journalist Amir Taheri in today’s New York Post, echo classic anti-Semitic conspiracy theories about Jewish power,” AJC Executive Director David Harris said in a statement. The Obama campaign responded to the remarks. Obama national security spokeswoman Wendy Morigi said in a statement:
Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. is not an adviser to the Obama campaign and is therefore in no position to interpret or share Barack Obama’s views on Israel and foreign policy. As he has made clear throughout his career and throughout this campaign, Barack Obama has a fundamental commitment to a strong US-Israel relationship, and he is advised by people like Dennis Ross, Daniel Kurtzer, Rep. Robert Wexler, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Senator Joe Biden who share that commitment. As President, he will ensure that Israel can defend itself from every threat it faces, stand with Israel in its quest for a secure peace with its neighbors, and use all elements of American power to end Iran’s illicit nuclear program. No false charges can change Barack Obama’s unshakeable commitment to Israel’s security.
Niqnaq 