Why is the Los Angeles Times (LA Times) refusing to release the controversial Khalidi-Obama video? Why would a respected media organization hide a video that may contain vital information for the voting public? In a country where media outlets have always been proud of press freedom, does that also include a newspaper's freedom to suppress information that is contrary to its beliefs, and goals? What is in that Obama video tape that a respectable news organization such as the LA Times is trying to hide?

These are just some of the many questions on the public's mind as the LA Times Khalidi Obama video controversy continues to rule the headlines. Questions that remain unanswered as the Los Angeles Times still refuses to release the video in question taken at a farewell dinner for Rashid Khalidi, Obama’s colleague at the University of Chicago, before his departure for Columbia University
in New York in 2003. Barack Obama was reportedly seen praising radical Palestinian activist Rashid Khalidi in the contested video, and some in the McCain camp are saying also shows how Obama responded to a poem recited at the party accusing Israel of “terrorism” and warning of consequences for US support for Israel, which McCain spokesman Michael Goldfarb described as "hate speech".

"A major news organization is intentionally suppressing information that could provide a clearer link between Barack Obama and Rashid Khalidi," said Goldfarb. "The election is one week away, and it’s unfortunate that the press so obviously favors Barack Obama that this campaign must publicly request that the Los Angeles Times do its job — make information public," he said.

The Los Angeles Times published its own account of what happened during that party with an article entitled "Allies of Palestinians See a Friend in Barack Obama" which the newspaper printed in April. However, many are speculating that this is not all that transpired during the event, something that the Kjalidi-Obama video may reveal since attendees to the affair also included former Weather Underground terrorists Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn. Action speaks louder than words and the more the LA Times refuse to release the video, the more curious the public gets. What are they trying to hide in there?

Adding more fuel to the speculation is the LA Times' endorsement of the Barack Obama presidential bid last week. Is the newspaper purposely suppressing the release of information that might possibly hurt its candidate's chances in the polls next week? Hmm.

Rashid Khalidi has been accused of having ties to the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), based on his work for Wafa in the late 1980s, and later serving as an adviser to the Palestinian delegation during the Madrid Conference of 1991. There have also been allegations in the past that he was a PLO spokesman. He has always denied these despite persistent claims by detractors. The claim received renewed attention this year when it was raised due to his friendship with Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Barack Obama has distanced himself from Khalidi in recent months. Speaking at a synagogue during the campaign, this was his reply to a question about his relationship with Khalidi, "Khalidi is Palestinian. And I do know him and I have had conversations. He is not one of my advisers; he’s not one of my foreign policy people. His kids went to the Lab school where my kids go as well. He is a respected scholar, although he vehemently disagrees with a lot of Israel’s policy... To pluck out one person who I know and who I’ve had a conversation with who has very different views than 900 of my friends and then to suggest that somehow that shows that maybe I’m not sufficiently pro-Israel, I think, is a very problematic stand to take... So we gotta be careful about guilt by association."

He may be right. However, it is interesting to note what else he said about their relationship during that controversial dinner party. According to the LA Times article, Obama said in his toast that he hoped his relationship with Khalidi would continue even after the professor left Chicago. "It’s for that reason that I’m hoping that, for many years to come, we continue that conversation — a conversation that is necessary not just around Mona and Rashid’s dinner table ... [but around] this entire world."

LA Times Khalidi-Obama Video: Fox News

why hide LA Times Khalidi-Obama Video?

LA Times Khalidi-Obama Video: Bill O'ReilLy's take

Update: Barack Obama has just been sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America. Watch videos of Obama's inauguration and inaugural speech, or read the full transcript of the Obama inaugural address.

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