Say What!?

Haaretz is reporting that Obama thinks Israelis distrust him because his middle name is Hussein:

During the interview Wednesday, when confronted with the anxiety that some Israelis feel toward him, Obama said that 'some of it may just be the fact that my middle name is Hussein, and that creates suspicion.'

'Ironically, I've got a Chief of Staff named Rahm Israel Emmanuel. My top political advisor is somebody who is a descendent of Holocaust survivors. My closeness to the Jewish American community was probably what propelled me to the U.S. Senate,' Obama said.

That exchange sounds racially tone-deaf. It's not racist, but it's clear that President Obama thinks of Jews and Israelis as The Other and that means that this "Lightworker" may have taken leave of his own transcendence.