Friday, October 15, 2004
US Allies to come under scrutiny for treatment of Jews
In another test of America's frayed relations with France, Russia and other allies, the US Congress has ordered the State Department to start rating governments throughout the world on their treatment of Jewish citizens.
The resulting report cards on anti-Semitism would be published in annual US surveys of human rights abuses around the world.
The proposed law was passed by the House of Representatives on Monday, in response to what its sponsors called an alarming surge in anti-Semitism, especially in Europe. It has already been passed by the Senate.
I'm proud of our Congress for passing this. With the overwhelming support of the entire country and legislature, one would expect our foriegn policy makers in Washington to be foursquare behind this, right?
Congress overruled strong opposition from diplomats at the State Department who complained in an internal memo that a special focus on Judaism, "opens us to charges of favouritism and challenges the credibility of our reporting".
Those of us who have long perceived a pro-Arab bias in the State Dept. will read this part with no little pleasure:
The law, the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act, also ordered the establishment of an office at the State Department dedicated to monitoring anti-Semitism, again over the department's protests.
The State Dept seething has already begun in a leaked report:
In a sign of the diplomatic anxieties, the State Department argued for anti-Semitism monitoring to remain a task conducted behind closed doors, by the department's existing "special envoy for holocaust issues".
At the moment, US diplomats discreetly gather data on anti-Semitism from other governments, in multilateral conferences held in Europe and an annual international religious freedom round table sponsored by Washington.
"There is no need for the special envoy to hold public hearings, take testimony or receive evidence to effectively monitor and combat anti-Semitism," said the memo, which was sent to congressional sponsors of the new law.
If more Democrats were like Tom Lantos...
Tom Lantos, a California Democrat and Holocaust survivor who was one of the sponsors, denounced State Department talk of "favouritism" as an alarming nod to "the worst stereotypes of Jews perpetrated in anti-Semitic tracts throughout modern history".
This comment from Lantos' staffer Lynne Weil would seem to indicate that the Congressman has Europe's number:
"If a government takes offence at this, that government should be offended by the acts of its own citizens, if they are hateful."
The resulting report cards on anti-Semitism would be published in annual US surveys of human rights abuses around the world.
The proposed law was passed by the House of Representatives on Monday, in response to what its sponsors called an alarming surge in anti-Semitism, especially in Europe. It has already been passed by the Senate.
I'm proud of our Congress for passing this. With the overwhelming support of the entire country and legislature, one would expect our foriegn policy makers in Washington to be foursquare behind this, right?
Congress overruled strong opposition from diplomats at the State Department who complained in an internal memo that a special focus on Judaism, "opens us to charges of favouritism and challenges the credibility of our reporting".
Those of us who have long perceived a pro-Arab bias in the State Dept. will read this part with no little pleasure:
The law, the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act, also ordered the establishment of an office at the State Department dedicated to monitoring anti-Semitism, again over the department's protests.
The State Dept seething has already begun in a leaked report:
In a sign of the diplomatic anxieties, the State Department argued for anti-Semitism monitoring to remain a task conducted behind closed doors, by the department's existing "special envoy for holocaust issues".
At the moment, US diplomats discreetly gather data on anti-Semitism from other governments, in multilateral conferences held in Europe and an annual international religious freedom round table sponsored by Washington.
"There is no need for the special envoy to hold public hearings, take testimony or receive evidence to effectively monitor and combat anti-Semitism," said the memo, which was sent to congressional sponsors of the new law.
If more Democrats were like Tom Lantos...
Tom Lantos, a California Democrat and Holocaust survivor who was one of the sponsors, denounced State Department talk of "favouritism" as an alarming nod to "the worst stereotypes of Jews perpetrated in anti-Semitic tracts throughout modern history".
This comment from Lantos' staffer Lynne Weil would seem to indicate that the Congressman has Europe's number:
"If a government takes offence at this, that government should be offended by the acts of its own citizens, if they are hateful."
papijoe 10:41 AM
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