Obama Campaign Bans Green On Mideast Trip

The Politico: Rules On Attire Leave Many Observers Puzzled

(The Politico)  This story was written by By Ben Smith and Carrie Budoff Brown.

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A Barack Obama campaign ban on green clothing during the candidate’s visits to Israel and Jordan has created wide puzzlement among observers of the Middle East.

In a memo to reporters, described as “a few guidelines we sent staff before departure to the Middle East,” Obama advance staffer Peter Newell laid out rules on attire for Jordan and Israel.

First among them: “Do not wear green.”

An Obama aide explained to reporters that green is the color associated with the militant Palestinian group Hamas. But while the color does appear on Hamas banners, there is no particular symbolism to wearing green clothes, experts said.

Moreover, green is more generally seen as a symbol of Islam.

“A ban on wearing green seems bizarre,” said Richard Bulliet, a professor of Middle Eastern history at Columbia University, who said the color is associated with the family of the Prophet Mohammed.

“I would hazard the guess that the campaign's concern is more with distorted-and religiously inaccurate-reporting by Obama's detractors than with any actual signal that might be conveyed,” he said, referring to false rumors that Obama is a Muslim. “You don’t want to have some blogger come along and say ‘Obama is showing his true color.’”

“I think they’re just being overcautious to a ridiculous degree,” Bulliet said.

Mohamad Bazzi, a professor of journalism at New York University and former Middle East bureau chief for Newsday, called the instruction “very strange.”

“I guess green is the ‘Hamas color’ - but it's also the color of Islam!” Bazzi said in an email from Beirut. “That's one way for the Obama campaign to alienate 1.4 billion Muslims worldwide.”

Though the campaign’s other sartorial instructions - directing women to dress demurely - are fairly standard, Bazzi said he’d never heard it suggested before that journalists not wear green while traveling in the Middle East, an observation echoed by other reporters.

“I’ve been to the Middle East with Secretaries of State and on my own, and I’ve never heard of anything like that,” said New York Sun national security reporter Eli Lake.

Obama’s trip was organized independently of the State Department, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice advised American embassies Thursday to avoid helping presidential campaigns with their foreign trips.

Hamas, the group that controls the Gaza Strip, flies a green flag, as do some other Islamist groups. But the color appears on a vast array of official symbols, including the Saudi flag. Jordan’s Queen Rania al-Abdullah has been pictured in green outfits.

Early images from Obama’s trip also suggested that the rule is being observed in the breech: One cameraman on the tarmac in Amman can be seen in a green checked shirt.

“We wanted to be as respectful as possible. We wanted to go to the highest level,” said Jen Psaki, an Obama spokeswoman in Amman, of the campaign’s full list of sartorial suggestions, which also include a ban on nail polish and tank tops for women.

Another Obama spokesman, Bill Burton, didn’t explain the admonition against wearing green, but downplayed the memo.

“It was an informal document put together by people on the ground compiling info from a range of sources,” he said. “Some reporters on our trip had asked for advice on what to wear and so it was given to travelling press.”

A spokesman for the Council on American Islamic Relations, Ibrahim Hooper, said Muslims might take offense at the campaign’s instruction.

“Are you kidding?” Hooper asked, when told of the memo, calling the move a “misstep.”

“The color green is associated with Islam worldwide,” he said. &ldqu;Whether in some particularly tiny geographic location there’s some other local association based on politics is one thing, but to ask people not to wear green - are they going to ask people if he goes to Ireland, are they going to ask them not to wear green or orange?”

The president of the Arab American Institute, James Zogby, said he didn’t think the rule would give offense, but that he did find it puzzling.

“I’ve never heard of that before,” he said, adding that nobody had ever suggested avoiding the color on his satellite television show, which airs weekly in the Arab world.

“This is an overreach on somebody’s part,” he said. “It’s not going to insult anybody, nor is it going to offend them if somebody does wear green.”

Officials at pro-Israel groups that lead groups of journalists to the region declined to comment, but people familiar with trips led by everyone from the American Israel Education Foundation (the charitable arm of the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC) to the White House and State Department to the Israeli government said they’d never heard of such a rule.

"Our folks in Jerusalem and the USA have no idea what this is about," said an official of one major American Jewish organization. "We have not ever suggested that people not wear the color green. During the disengagement from Gaza, the color orange was the color of the anti-disengagement folks, so we did advise folks not to make an unintentional political statement by wearing orange."

Jeff Ballabon, a Republican consultant active in pro-Israel causes, was also baffled by the explanation of the link between green and Hamas. “Why didn’t he also ban the use of yellow, which is Hezbollah’s color?"

“I hear they aren’t going to order croissants because they’re crescent-shaped,” he quipped.

Budoff Brown reported from Amman; Smith from New York.

[chrisl45]

Obama would be bad for the country. Obama has a similar sounding name to Osama Bin Laden. Laden has been around for many years. How could Barack ignore Bin Laden in his past campaigning, and do as I describe below. Barack sounds like barracks, the %u201CO%u201D in Obama is hinting at praise, %u201Cbam%u201D sounds like bomb, and the last letter in his name %u201Ca%u201D could stand for America. If you stitch these together Barack%u2019s name is saying to the subconsciousness of the American people %u201Cpraise the bombing of America%u201D. Who can do the bombing. Well, we have a lot of terrorists for that. What makes things worst when you think about Barack%u2019s name is Obama has worn muslim cloths, has a bad middle name (Hussein), and attended an anti-semite church. It%u2019s just like someone with an Adolph Hitler mustach sounding off. Also, I saw the name %u201CBarack%u201D and %u201CObama%u201D and though of the bombing of the US barracks in 1983 Beirut, and the bombing of the US barracks in the Gulf War. His initials, %u201CBO%u201D, are like he%u2019s saying if you vote for me you will be making the country stink with radiation. Barack%u2019s attacks on John McCain can also be related to Barack%u2019s name. Barack%u2019s name can be seen to be saying %u201Cbaa%u201D like a sheep saying %u201Cbad%u201D (another reference %u201Cbaa-humbug), %u201Crack%u201D pointing directly towards John McCain%u2019s torture at the hands of the Vietnames.

[chrisl45]

Obama is the teacher saying to the world all my students did not fly into the World Trade Center, and the Pentagon! This is Obama''''s plan, legacy, and shows his charisma as well. First, all he is is a black teacher at law school. That''''s what he is using. Traditionally, when I think of a black professor, I think of someone who knows the laws dealing with "minorities" over everything else. I mean that''''s what they are best at, what they like dealing with, and what is expected of them by their students. So, here comes along Obama with that label. Minorities such as radical extreme Islamist groups can use this fatherly protection against the United States to come in and learn how to fly planes for example. Obama is keeping his fingers crossed when he talks to the heads of countries such as Palestine, Iraq, and Jordan. It might work in the short term for the terrorists. Maybe they want to see what they can get. Thus, unintentionally or intentionally Obama is telling countries such as these that maybe he wants to send American troops to Afghanistan to kill them like over 10,000 Russians were killed there. That''''s Barack Obama''''s plan, legacy, and secret. That''''s why I''''m begging you to vote for John McCain. John has the experience to get things done. God Bless Senator John McCain, our troops, and the USA

[usacitizen2]

This article is just plain silly. What a waste of space These writers should be fired.

[dmgenet]

Yeah, it is a slow news day when the candidates actually talk about the issues instead of spitting out vitriol. It''s so slow that the media starts to look for gaffes instead of meat. Bush would have NEVER have been elected Chump-in-Chief if that were the criteria.

[hasher47]

Slow news day!

[dnsallday]

It%u2019s not going to insult any mature adults , nor is it going to offend them if somebody does or does not wear green.

So it will be interesting to see who does think it is a big deal. We can count on the insecure, petty, jealous group to jump all over this though. That is always amusing to watch.