Samantha Power nominated as U.S. ambassador to U.N.
(JNS.org) Samantha Power, President Barack Obama’s replacement for Susan Rice as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, has a history of controversial comments about Israel.
Power from January 2009 to March 2013 held positions including special assistant to the president, senior director for multilateral affairs and human rights on the National Security Council, and member of the Atrocities Prevention Board.
During a 2002 interview at the University of California, Berkeley Institute of International Studies, when asked what she would advise a U.S. president to do if either party in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was “moving towards genocide,” Power referenced the pro-Israel lobby by saying the situation might mean America “alienating a domestic constituency of tremendous political and financial import,” before seemingly vouching for an American invasion of Israel to protect the Palestinians from genocide.
“It may mean more crucially sacrificing—or investing, I think, more than sacrificing—literally billions of dollars not in servicing Israelis’, you know, military, but actually in investing in the new state of Palestine, in investing billions of dollars it would probably take also to support, I think, what will have to be a mammoth protection force, not of the old, you know, Srebrenica kind or the Rwanda kind, but a meaningful military presence,” said Power, who later retracted her comments in an interview with Haaretz.
In a 2007 interview posted on the Harvard Kennedy School of Government’s website, Power said, “America’s important historic relationship with Israel has often led foreign policy decision-makers to defer reflexively to Israeli security assessments, and to replicate Israeli tactics, which, as the war in Lebanon last summer demonstrated, can turn out to be counter-productive.”
Morton Klein, national president of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), told JNS.org Wednesday that a look at the list of Obama’s nominees and appointments to positions that impact Israel—including Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency John O. Brennan, and now Power—“makes very clear that President Obama is no friend of Israel, and that he is insensitive to the interests of American Jews and the pro-Israel community, because all of those important posts have been filled with people who have been very hostile to Israel.”
But the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) praised the Power appointment, with Barry Curtiss-Lusher, ADL national chair, and Abraham Foxman, ADL national director, saying in a statement, “We are pleased that President Obama has nominated a true champion of human rights who led the effort to make averting genocide and atrocities a core part of American policy to head the U.S. delegation at the United Nations.”
Susan Rice appointment praised by Jewish groups
(JNS.org) Jewish groups on Wednesday praised the appointment of outgoing U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice as National Security Advisor. Rice will replace Tom Donilon.
“Without question, Susan Rice has served the Obama Administration well in the United Nations and has made combatting anti-Israel bias a top priority for the U.S. delegation,” National Jewish Democratic Council Chair Marc R. Stanley said in a statement.
American Jewish Committee Executive Director David Harris said in a statement, “With regard to the Middle East, Ambassador Rice has strenuously opposed Iran’s nuclear ambitions and human rights transgressions.” B’nai B’rith International pointed out that Rice “often defended Israel against malicious one-sided [UN] resolutions intended to demonize and delegitimize the Jewish state.”
Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, executive vice president of the Conservative movement’s Rabbinical Assembly, noted that Rice “has successfully led efforts to advance U.S. interests, including saving countless Libyans, supporting the historic independence of South Sudan after years of genocide and horror, and delivering the tightest sanctions on Iran and North Korea.”
Israel divestment resolution defeated at UC Santa Cruz
(JNS.org) An Israel divestment resolution was defeated Tuesday at the University of California, Santa Cruz with 19 votes against, 17 votes in favor, and three abstentions. The defeat followed a 45-minute student senate debate.
“We are pleased that a divestment resolution was once again defeated, this time at UC Santa Cruz. We applaud UCSC’s student senate for recognizing the complexity of the conflict and the bigotry in this resolution… Hopefully, next year, students who are obsessed with condemning Israel while they cover up the terrorism of Palestinian groups like Hamas, will consider more constructive actions and resolutions,” said Roz Rothstein, CEO of the pro-Israel education group StandWithUs.
The student senators “understood the magnitude of hastily passing a slanderous bill with only days remaining in the school year,” leading to a relatively short debate on the issue, Don Waintraub, StandWithUs Northern California Campus Coordinator, told JNS.org.
“It was amusing to see the debate happen near the international section of campus, which contained… Qaddafi’s [Libyan] flag, which is no longer relevant. I remember… not believing they could have that dictator’s flag there, and seriously be considering divesting from the only country in the Near East where the Christian community is flourishing,” Waintraub added.
In May, an Israel divestment resolution was also defeated at the University of California, Davis.
Hezbollah may not be behind Burgas attack, Bulgaria says
(JNS.org) The socialist party at the head of Bulgaria’s new government has backed away from the country’s previous claim that Hezbollah was responsible for the deadly bombing of an Israeli tourist bus in Burgas last July.
Their is only an “indication” that Hezbollah was behind the attack that killed five Israelis and a Bulgarian bus driver, and the European Union should not take the incident as definitive reasoning for branding Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, the government of Bulgaria has now said.
“There is an indication that it is possible [that Hezbollah was behind the attack], but we cannot take decisions with important consequences for the EU based on indirect data,” said new Bulgarian Foreign Minister Kristian Vigenin, according to Reuters.
Just a month ago, Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said the country’s investigation had determined that two of those involved in the attack “were members of the militant wing of Hezbollah.”
Muslim extremist party holds a march through Ramallah
(JNS.org) Hundreds of Muslim fundamentalists belonging to Hizb-ut-Tahrir (Party of Liberation) held a march through the streets of Ramallah on Tuesday to mark the 92nd anniversary of the fall of the Caliphate, the Gatestone Institute reported.
Hizb-ut-Tahrir is an international pan-Islamic political group that calls for the restoration of the Islamic Caliphate, which was dismantled following the end of the Ottoman Empire after World War I. The group, which also calls for the elimination of Israel, reportedly chanted slogans encouraging Muslim armies to “march toward Palestine to liberate the Aqsa Mosque and the rest of Palestine.”
“Today I felt as if I’m in Syria or Gaza. It’s strange that the Palestinian Authority, which arrests people who post critical comments on Facebook, allows Muslim extremists to march in Ramallah, calling for the establishment of a Caliphate,” a Palestinian university student told the Gatesone Institute.
*
Pope Francis calls for protection of Syrian Christians
(JNS.org) Pope Francis, during a meeting with several humanitarian groups dealing with the Syrian civil war, renewed his appeal for peace in Syria and also called on the world’s Christian community to help Syrian Christians, Independent Catholic News reported.
“In the face of ongoing and overwhelming violence, I strongly renew my appeal for peace,” Pope Francis said in remarks at the Vatican organized by Pontifical Council Cor Unum, the Vatican’s main Catholic charity.
Pope Francis also spoke about Syria’s beleaguered Christian community and called on the world’s Christian community to support them.
“My thoughts at this moment also go to the Christian communities who live in Syria and throughout the Middle East. The Church supports the members of these communities who today find themselves in special difficulty. These have the great task of continuing to offer a Christian presence in the place where they were born. And it is our task to ensure that this witness remain there. The participation of the entire Christian community to this important work of assistance and aid is imperative at this time,” Pope Francis said.
*
Preceding provided by JNS.org