Hamas is hopeful President Obama will open dialogue with the Islamist group in spite of congressional restrictions on such talks, Ahmed Yousef, Hamas’ chief political adviser in Gaza, said in an exclusive interview today.

Yousef, speaking from Gaza one day after Obama met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, made the recorded comments to Mideast journalist and author Aaron Klein

Yousef said he believes Obama intends to “change” American policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He called Obama a “smart and decent man.”

To read the full story and HEAR the audio click here: http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=98580.

Klein is available for comment on this issue, as well the major differences in policy between Obama and Netanyahu – especially regarding Iran – that could ultimately lead to a crisis in U.S.- Israel relations.

Klein’s just-released blockbuster book is The Late Great State of Israel. In the urgent work, Klein documents the unprecedented, mortal danger that Israel faces.

Aaron Klein is a columnist and the Jerusalem bureau chief for WorldNetDaily.com. He is known for his regular segments and commentary on top American radio programs. Klein is also the author of the 2007 critically- acclaimed book, Schmoozing with Terrorists. His articles have been republished in Ynetnews.

Contact: M. Sliwa Public Relations, 973-272-2861, media (at) msliwa (dot) com

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Tom Gralish over at the Philadelphia Inquirer has a blog post out today where he claims that the iconic and famous Obama HOPE Image, which now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery and is credited as being created by artist Shepherd Fairey, may have actually been taken directly from a photograph taken by Freelance Photographer Mannie Garcia. Although I’m not aware of Garcia ever being attributed as the source of this image, Gralish did a great bit of his own detective work to come up with this conclusion. I have not seen any comments anywhere yet from Garcia on the image which will likely go down as one of the greatest and historical works of art of the past century.

Interestingly enough, it also appears that the original photo was not taken at some philosophical moment where Obama was contemplating the future of our great nation or delivering some great speech, but rather when he was probably listening to either Republican Senator Sam Brownback or possibly actor George Clooney.

From Gralish:

"The photo was made by freelance photographer Mannie Garcia who was on assignment for the AP in April of 2006, where a National Press Club news advisory alerted the media that, Academy Award Winner George Clooney will address National Press Club on hisrecent visit to war-torn Darfur and will release video footage from his trip to Sudan. Clooney will be joined by U.S. Senators Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), co-sponsors of S. 1462, The Darfur Peace and Accountability Act, and co-sponsors of amendments to increase funding
for peacekeeping operations in Sudan."

So, it looks like the image that poster artist Shepard Fairey said looked presidential, telling the Washington Post: "He is gazing off into the future, saying, ‘I can guide you,’ " actually showed our new president listening to George Clooney. Or, probably more likely, fellow Senator Brownback."

Richard Prince would be proud.

In related news today, it was also uncovered that the famous "Joebama" poster, created by artist Joe Reifer, interestingly enough, also was lifted from a photograph of Reifer taken by yours truly in 2007 at the Lucky JuJu Pinball Gallery. (If you’d like to create your own Obama Hopeish poster from your own image you can do that here).

Update: It seems, from Garcia’s website, that representatives of Fairey’s yesterday confirmed that the original image did in fact come from one of Garcia’s photographs:

The Danziger Gallery which represents the artistic works of Mr. Fairey contacted me on the 21st of January 2009 to inform me that my photograph was in fact the basis for the artwork that has become better know now as the “HOPE” and “PROGRESS” posters., thanks Claytonia!

Update 2: NPR has a podcast audio interview with Fairey where he discusses this image from yesterday here. Thanks, David!

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Review
There’s been an explosion of Barack Obama memorabilia onto the market since the presidential election, much of it garbage just trying to cash in on the hysteria. This includes DVDs, although the best of the bunch for my money is this bio-pic which focuses on Obama’s life from his days as a community organizer in Chicago right up to the present. The film includes footage of a 1990 interview conducted after he had been elected editor-in-chief of the Harvard Law Review which …
Buy Becoming Barack: Evolution of a Leader at Amazon