Ali Abunimah, co-founder of the online publication Electronic Intifada, looks back, almost nostalgically, to the time before the presidential campaign, before Barack Obama "moved to try to appease AIPAC and pro-Israel movements." Here is what he remembers, according to an interview   with Amy Goodman of  Democracy, Now!:

"...I knew Barack Obama for many years as my state senator-when he used to attend events in the Palestinian community in Chicago all the time. I remember personally introducing him onstage in 1999, when we had a major community fundraiser for the community center in Deheisha refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. And that's just one example of how Barack Obama used to be very comfortable speaking up for and being associated with Palestinian rights and opposing the Israeli occupation."