Rahm Emanuel's Irgun Father Speaks Up

Arab-American group blasts Emanuel’s dad

November 12, 2008

WASHINGTON (JTA) - An Arab-American group wants Barack Obama and Rahm Emanuel to repudiate remarks made by Emanuel’s father.

President-elect Obama last week named U.S. Rep. Emanuel (D-Ill.), whose father is Israeli, as his White House chief of staff. In an interview with the Israeli daily Ma’ariv, Benjamin Emanuel said: "Obviously, he’ll influence the president to be pro-Israel. Why wouldn’t he? What is he, an Arab? He’s not going to be mopping floors at the White House."



In an e-mail blast, the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee urged its members to protest the "detestable" comments by fax or through e-mail.



ADC also wrote a letter to Emanuel asking him to repudiate his father’s comments. ADC "views this characterization of an Arab as an unacceptable smear," the letter said. "One can readily imagine the justifiable outcry if someone made a similar remark about African‐Americans, Jews, or Hispanics, concerning cleaning the floors of the White House. Do the normal standards of decency and civility not apply when talking about Arabs?"

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Rahm Emanuel an ardent Jew

Rahm Emanuel, whom Obama selected as his Chief of Staff, is the son of Benjamin Emanuel, who worked with a Zionist paramilitary organization in Israel in the 1940s. The elder Emanuel emigrated to Chicago where he met his wife, Martha Smulevitz, an American Jew who worked as an X-ray technician.
Before his family moved to the lakeshore suburb of Wilmette, Rahm Emanuel attended Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, a Jewish high school endowed by billionaire Sam Zell. Inheriting his father’s passion for Israel, Rahm Emanuel worked as a civilian volunteer in Israel in the 1991 Gulf War, rust-proofing brakes on an army base in northern Israel.
Beyond Emanuel’s private introduction to AIPAC’s executive board, Obama sounded all the important themes in his public remarks. He vowed to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and insisted Jerusalem will remain the undivided capital of the Jewish state.
“Let me be clear. Israel’s security is sacrosanct. It is non-negotiable,” he said. “The Palestinians need a state that is contiguous and cohesive, and that allows them to prosper . . . But any agreement with the Palestinian people must preserve Israel’s identity as a Jewish state, with secure, recognized and defensible borders.”