@brhodes on the issue of race in pro-Israel politics during the Obama years
"The phrase we heard over and over from AIPAC types was 'we have to know that he feels it in his kishkes.' They thought they were giving us advice, but it was borderline offensive."

...Susan Rice had similar hurdles. You couldn't escape the kind of awkward fact that part of what was threatening was that Obama is a Black man who lived in an oppressed community in this country, so therefore the assumption underlying that skepticism from the Jewish community...

...was that 'well therefore he's clearly going to empathize with the Palestinians because they are treated in a marginalized way, because they're oppressed. What was so awkward about it was the thing they were assuming, which may be true...Obama understands the Palestinian...

...experience in a way that a White person couldn't, kind of exposes their vulnerability. He really would resent accusations of anti-Semitism that came his way as if he had some kind of prejudice. When I was planing a trip to Israel, Michael Oren was the ambassador at the time...

...we were trying to plan the schedule and make sure he spoke to different pieces of Israeli society, and Oren was adamant that Obama visit this Ethiopian Jewish community. I kept saying it's fine, we love the Ethiopian community, but it's kind of out of the way...

...There was like a tokenism to it, that I was like, why would you want the Black president to go take pictures of the Black Jews. There's a tokenism that creeps into the way they try and address this issue that also was at times present.

...We met with a group of Palestinian kids in Ramallah, and every one of them had an experience of the occupation that was just gut wrenching to hear it... and the last kid sat there and he looked angry the whole time, not at all flattered that Obama was meeting with them...

... When it got to him, he looked at Obama & said, 'We are treated the same way in this country that Black people used to be treated in your country,' & he paused & said, 'financed by your government, Mr. President.' And I remember Obama was just silent"