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We have a couple of premium notes today regarding some big stories from this week that are thankfully now in the rear view mirror . . .
Oday Aboushi was accused by website called “Front Page Magazine,” of having connections to Anti-Israel groups. Aboushi is a Palestinian-American.
I don’t want to get too much into the “Front Page Magazine,” article, but I will give you this short paragraph, to give you an idea of the theme of Joe Kaufman’s article.
“On April 19th, just one week prior to the draft, Aboushi praised a conference sponsored by Islamic Relief (IR), a charity that the Israeli government has labeled a front for Hamas and that has been cited for both receiving and giving huge sums of money to al-Qaeda related groups,” wrote Kaufman.
This article really upset Aboushi, and he issued a statement to put an end to this story, which started to gain some traction last week, leading to some complaints from season ticket-holders.
Aboushi did a great job of stopping the dialogue before it became a major story with a powerful statement.
“I’m proud to be born and raised in the United States, proud to be a Palestinian-American and as a native New Yorker, I’m especially proud to have been drafted by the Jets and have the chance to represent this great organization and the NFL,” Aboushi said in his statement, released by the team. “It is upsetting to see people try and tarnish my reputation without even knowing me, but I appreciate all the support I have been getting from people of all backgrounds across the city and the country. As for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I hope that both sides make peace and live in prosperity.”
The Jets also issued a statement.
“The New York Jets strongly believe in diversity, inclusion and tolerance of others. We also encourage all of our employees to use good judgment when exercising their rights to freedom of expression and speech to be certain that they are constructive and respectful,” the statement said.
Hopefully this story is now in the rear view mirror.
Aboushi and the Jets did a good job of getting in front of this story before it got out of control.
The bottom line is this – Aboushi has every right to his opinions and to support his ethnic group, which is admirable.
But the Jets want him to be more careful about the groups he associates with, because in this day and age, it’s going to come back to bite him, with so many websites attempting to dig stuff up on people.
I think Oday learned a lesson. But I will say this in his defense. I don’t think he had the resources to vet these organizations to the degree that Mr. Kaufman did. I don’t think he knew of all the connections of the groups he was associating with. He’s a 22-year-old kid, not an FBI operative. In his mind, I think he was just supporting the Palestinian people.
I’ve been to many charity events over the years. And I’m not going to sit here and say I knew about all the connections of those charities. And sometimes down the road, I found out things I didn’t like.
So from now on, Aboushi just has to look into these groups a little closer, before he goes to their events . . .
Mark Sanchez was asked on Friday about a party video that was released that showed him exposing his butt to a camera.
“Obviously the video’s a little embarrassing,” Sanchez said. “It’s just a good reminder that you’re in the spotlight… and be ever watchful and careful of who you’re with, what you’re doing. Whether it’s harmless, whether you’re in the privacy or your own setting and you feel like everything’s fine and you’re safe, you just got to be careful. That’s just a good example of that.”
The more I think about this, the less I think of Alana Kari.
Maybe it’s just where our society is at right now – everyone looking for their 15 minutes of fame.
But for Sanchez to go to a private party to have some fun (which he’s entitled to do – the man works really, really hard), and for him to have a goofy moment video-taped, and put on the internet, is so darn sleazy.
Does Miss Kari have any integrity? What a disgusting thing to do. What did she hope to gain by undermining Mark like this?
Imagine Joe Namath or Mickey Mantle living in this day and age? Both guys like to have a lot of fun, but most of their exploits stayed private. Same with JFK.
To me a private party needs to stay private.
What Miss Kari did to Sanchez was disgraceful.
July 14, 2013
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