The Jewish Telegraphic Agency today reports that the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Jr., long-time pastor of Barak Obama, published an op-ed piece signed by a Hamas leader. The item appeared in the July 22, 2007 edition of his Trinity United Church newspaper on the "Pastor's Page." The op-ed piece justifies attacks on Israeli civilians, and carries a supporting introduction by Mr. Wright.
(The New York Times of April 1, 2008, carries a revealing, front-page report on the virulent anti-Semitism of Hamas.)
Barak Obama issued a statement strongly condemning these views of his pastor. "I certainly wasn’t in church when that outrageously wrong [Hamas] piece was re-printed in the bulletin,” Obama added.
Obama is a long-time member of Trinity United, and his financial contributions to his church are reported to be substantial ("All told, the [Obama] couple gave $27,500 to [Trinity United] in 2005 and 2006," according to the New York Times of March 26). His moral support to the church has been unwavering. As more and more and more details of the extremist political positions of the church are revealed, Obama's response has been to distance himself from these, but also to repeat, over and over, that he didn't know, that he wasn't there.
I find it very difficult to believe that an intelligent, energetic, and very political man like Obama is perpetually ignorant about what goes on in the church to which he devotes so many of his resources. If he does get to the White House, will he be in similar ignorance about the goings on of his administration ?
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