Obama and Arab American expectations

James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, weighs in this week on the Rahm Emanuel kerfuffle with a thoughtful column on the grumbling among some Arab and Muslim activists about Obama's decision to select the political brawler and Israel supporter as his chief-of-staff.

Zogby says Emanuel is a "brilliant strategist" that Obama chose for his "proven political skills."

He dismisses many of the more outlandish stories circulating about Emanuel as "slanderous myths" on par with the unfounded allegations during the campaign that Obama was a closet Muslim extremist.

"Putting aside the fiction or, more accurately, the slanderous myths, the truth is that Emanuel is an effective leader in Congress," Zogby writes in the piece. "He is a strong supporter of Israel. But then, how many members of Congress are not? Emanuel is Jewish and his father is an Israeli. Arab Americans should be especially sensitive to attacks on anyone based on religion or ethnicity. He has worked closely with, and is liked by, the Arab American Members of Congress from both parties, and he was the architect of the 1993 White House lawn signing ceremony for the Oslo Accords that brought Arab Americans and American Jews together."

Zogby goes on to voice his disappointment with the Obama team for letting the criticism of Emanuel simmer and demonstrating a certain "tone-deafness to Arab misperceptions" about the new chief-of-staff.

"Arabs and Arab Americans need to ground their expectations in political realities and be wary of slanderous attacks smacking of anti-Semitism, and U.S. political leadership must learn to be as attentive to Arab sensitivities as they are to the concerns of others," Zogby writes.