AIPAC ‘deeply disappointed’ in Robinson selection

The drumbeat of criticism on the Mary Robinson selection for the Presidential Medal of Freedom just got a lot louder. AIPAC released a statement this afternoon saying it was "deeply disappointed" by the choice of Robinson, and calling on the Obama administration to "firmly, fully and publicly repudiate her views on Israel and her long public record of hostility and one-sided bias against the Jewish state."

The statement is particularly significant because the pro-Israel lobby, in contrast to most other Jewish organizations, is generally sparing in its release of public statements, particularly on issues not directly related to legislation before Congress.

The full statement is after the jump::

AIPAC is deeply disappointed by the Obama administration’s choice to award a Presidential Medal of Freedom to Mary Robinson. AIPAC respectfully calls on the administration to firmly, fully and publicly repudiate her views on Israel and her long public record of hostility and one-sided bias against the Jewish state.

Robinson is widely known for the high-profile role she played in leading the deeply flawed U.N. Human Rights Commission and for presiding over the U.N.’s Durban Conference on Racism, which the United States boycotted for its unprecedented hostility to Israel and its final outcome document that equated Zionism with racism.

In a BBC interview following the passage of the “Zionism = Racism” Durban text, Robinson described the outcome as “remarkably good, including on the issues of the Middle East.”

As one of America’s greatest statesman, the late Tom Lantos – a former Congressman, Holocaust survivor, global champion of human rights and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee – observed, “Much of the responsibility for the debacle [at Durban] rests on the shoulders of U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson.”

In his extensive report about the Durban Conference, and about the years of effort on the part of Congress and both Clinton and Bush administrations to support the Conference and its goal of promoting human rights and ending racism and intolerance, Congressman Lantos continues:

Mrs. Robinson’s conduct “left our delegation deeply shocked and saddened. In her remarks, she advocated precisely the opposite course to the one Secretary Powell and I had urged her to take. Namely, she refused to reject the twisted notion that the wrong done to the Jews in the Holocaust was equivalent to the pain suffered by the Palestinians in the Middle East…Instead of condemning the attempt to usurp the conference, she legitimized it.” continues here

Robinson rejects pro-Israeli criticism of award

FORMER President of Ireland Mary Robinson has hit back at pro-Israeli critics of her selection as recipient of a US Presidential Medal of Freedom.


Ms Robinson served as United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees during the 2001 Durban Conference against racism and was seen by Jewish leaders as not taking enough action to deter the anti-Jewish and anti-Israel actions at the conference.

She was also seen as a tough critic of Israel’s use of force against the Palestinians during her term in office.

Since it was announced she was to receive the medal, the highest civilian honour in the United States, pro-Israeli lobby groups in the US have publicly criticised her selection.

However, speaking over the weekend Ms Robinson defended her role in the Durban Conference.

"[The criticism] does not completely surprise me. It is totally without foundation. I am extremely proud [of the conference]. It was the third attempt to have the conference and was the first to be successful. In the final document there was not one word of anti-semitism. continues here

US moves to dismiss case against 2 former AIPAC lobbyists

US moves to dismiss case against 2 former AIPAC lobbyists In a statement Friday, the acting US attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia said restrictions on the government's case imposed by Judge T.S. Ellis III made conviction unlikely. "Given the diminished likelihood the government will prevail at trial under the additional intent requirements imposed by the court and the inevitable disclosure of classified information that would occur at any trial in this matter, we have asked the court to dismiss the indictment," Dana Boente said.
 
The motion all but guarantees a dismissal. 

"Intent requirements" refers to an earlier Ellis ruling that the government must prove that Keith Weissman, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's former Iran analyst, and Steve Rosen, its former foreign policy chief, intended not only to assist Israel but to harm the United States. 

Weissman and Rosen were charged under a rarely used section of the 1917 Espionage Act that makes it a crime for civilians to receive and distribute closely held defense information. Both men were later dismissed by AIPAC, with the organization claiming the two had violated its rules; Rosen has filed a multimillion dollar lawsuit against AIPAC. 
 
Reached by phone, Rosen told JTA he was "ecstatic" and was "still absorbing a life-changing moment." He said he had been on the phone Friday morning nonstop with family and friends. 

"There was a great injustice here, but thank God we live in a country where the courts can correct this kind of injustice," he said. 

For the immediate future, Rosen said, he would focus on a book he was writing on government leaks. 

Baruch Weiss, Weissman's lawyer, told JTA that the decision was a "great victory for the First Amendment and for the pro-Israel community continues here