Mary Robinson, Trailblazing Irish Diplomat?

Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights delivered the keynote speech at Michigan State University's convocation ceremony. So what's the big deal?

It's like this. According to the Detroit Free Press:

She has received the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom and serves as a member of the Elders, a group of world leaders founded by Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu to address major problems in the world.

Well, her resume certainly sounds impressive, doesn't it? Freedom. Human rights. What can be better? But wait! There's more.

She said she parted with her six predecessors to become more involved in world affairs, especially in human rights, such as being the first head of state to travel to Somalia and Rwanda during those crises.

Sounds great, doesn't she? Sure she does, until we recall the controversy that surrounded her being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, when some undiplomatic facts were exposed about her tenure at the UN (as if her association with Jew-hater, Desmond Tutu wasn't enough). CAMERA, in their critique of media coverage of the Durban fiasco that was allowed to become an international festival of Jew-hatred and Israel-bashing, says:

During her stint at the UN, Robinson laid the groundwork for the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance which became the scene of one of the most notorious explosions of anti-Semitism in decades. At this conference, which passed a resolution accusing Israel of genocide and ethnic cleansing, Jews were denied the opportunity to serve on committees on the grounds that they could not be "objective" regarding issues related to the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Arab Lawyers Union distributed a book at this conference that superimposed a swastika over the Star of David. Protesters carried signs outside the conference that asked what would have happened if Hitler had won World War II. One benefit the sign reported was that "THERE WOULD BE NO ISRAEL AND NO PALESTINIAN'S BLOOD SHED." Palestinian extremists at the conference chanted "We will redeem Palestine through blood and fire." In response to the vicious atmosphere at the conference — which she organized — Mary Robinson declared "I am a Jew" and condemned the anti-Semitism being expressed at the events; but by then it was too late and the damage had been done. The conference's delegates passed a resolution accusing Israel of genocide and ethnic cleansing at the behest of Israel's enemies in the Middle East.

Mary Robinson declares that, "I am a Jew", and condemned anti-Semitism. That's supposed to make everything better? I don't think so. That's the same as a CAIR member condemning all terrorism in all of its forms. If one were only to focus on Durban Conference, one would think that Robinson was merely inept. But if we look at her tenure as president of Ireland, a post she held before she joined the rot at the UN, a darker picture emerges. Michael Rubin wrote this damning article about her back in 2002. The ZOA used it and other sources in their criticism of Obama's awarding Robinson and Desmond Tutu Medals of Freedom. From Rubin's article:

The trouble starts with Robinson's tenure as president of Ireland. During the last four years of Robinson's tenure, the European Union donated large sums of money to the Palestinian Authority. Ireland even held the presidency of the European Union for the second half of 1996. During this time, Arafat siphoned large amounts of European aid money away to pay for terror. Robinson can plead ignorance, but documents seized during the recent Israeli incursion into the West Bank revealed that the Palestinian Authority spent approximately $9 million of European Union aid money each month on the salaries of those organizing terror attacks against civilians. While European officials like Robinson looked the other way, the Palestinian Authority regularly converted millions of dollars of aid money into shekels at rates about 20 percent below normal, allowing the Palestinian chairman to divert millions of dollars worth of aid into his personal slush fund.

She was no different after the Durban Conference. Michael Rubin again,

Robinson's post-Durban record is little better. On April 15, Robinson's commission voted on a decision that condoned suicide bombings as a legitimate means to establish Palestinian statehood (six European Union members voted in favor including, not surprisingly, France and Belgium). The vote came after Robinson initiated a drive to become a fact finder to investigate the now-famous massacre in Jenin (also known as "the massacre that never happened"). Curiously, in the months preceding Israel's incursion into the U.N. refugee camp in Jenin, suicide bombers launched from the camp wearing explosives likely bought with European money killed more than 100 Israeli civilians. However, for Robinson, a massacre is the deaths of seven Palestinian civilians in a war zone (47 Palestinian militants and 23 Israel soldiers also died). The deaths of more than 100 Jewish civilians by suicide bombers is worthy of little more than deafening silence interrupted by an occasional pithy statement of moral equivalence. The world still waits for Robinson to use her bully pulpit to call for an investigation of the terrorist murder of Jews (but then again, such an inquiry might lead uncomfortably close to UNRWA and European Union officials ).

So MSU now sees fit to allow trailblazing terror supporters and anti-Semites to address their graduates. The Detroit Free Press does its part in this charade by whitewashing Mary Robinson's past. Has academia truly sunk so low that they're willing to look past the violent death of thousands in order to welcome people responsible for these deaths to their campuses, and hold them up as role models for their students? Has our local press become intentionally complicit in the advancement of terrorism? It's time to pay attention to what our institutions of higher learning are feeding our children. These days, whenever I hear or read of somebody who lists "human rights" as part of their title or crusade, I immediately become suspicious. You should too.

One more thing. As mentioned above, she was the first head of state to travel to Somalia and Rwanda during their crises. The results of those trips were - ? 
 Cowznofski

UPDATE: In my haste I forgot one thing, a quick quiz.

When Robinson was awarded her medal by Obama, and her past activities came to light, she claimed she was being bullied by some:
A. News
B. Crews
C. Fitzhughes
D. Jews
E. Kazoos

The Birth of Civility?

There is a debate going on in the pages of the Detroit Jewish News on "civility in our Jewish dialogue". OK, I can be civil. But if you don't like what I have to say, don't accuse me of being "divisive". Rather, offer a substantive argument showing me the error of my ways. There always has been and always will be a diversity of opinion in the Jewish community, civil or otherwise. So, Sharon Lipton and the JCRC will have to excuse me if don't attend their civility seminars. (I'd have to attend in my Purim costume anyway to maintain my anonymity.) Here at Talking Tachlis, we offer a fine platform for community members to air their grievances and engage in spirited debate. We are adults. We don't need to be told how to debate. If you don't like our position on the issues, don't avoid answering our charges by hiding behind "civility".

Civility, believe it or not, can be taken too far. Take for example, this letter by Robert Cohen, JCRC president, in January second's Detroit Free Press:

Although Terry Ahwal's guest commentary of Dec. 27 conveyed a one-sided picture of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it was encouraging to see it conclude with support for a two-state solution ("Gingrich's claim that Palestinians are 'invented' displays a pandering style of foreign policy").

Jews and Arabs often strongly disagree about where to lay blame for their conflict, but we can agree that both Israelis and Palestinians have suffered greatly. We cannot forget past events that brought Israelis and Palestinians to where they are today. But peace can only be realized if both peoples move forward toward a settlement they negotiate directly with each other based on a shared vision of a better future.

Lovely, isn't it? The very model of civility. It is even-handed, forgiving, non-confrontational, walking on the sunny side of the street with both hands outstretched in friendship.

The problem is that Terry Ahwal took the opposite stance. Read his column here.

Pretty nasty, isn't it? It's not only divisive (to the Metropolitan Detroit community) and confrontational, but it's a pack of lies, which anyone who knows anything about the history of the Middle East can easily expose. Unfortunately, as we know, when it comes to slandering Israel in the mainstream press, the slanderers are allowed to create their own facts; fact-checking be damned. The ultimate lie, sitting atop a stinking pile of defamation and dishonesty, is the final paragraph:

Gingrich should know that we Palestinian people live and exist and are the indigenous population of Palestine. For the interest of peace, Palestinians are willing to live side by side by Israel as equal and no amount of denial will eradicate us.

Do I really have to explain the unabashed mendacity of those fallacious claims? I don't think I do, but I think Mr. Cohen should have shown some support for the Jewish community and exposed Ahwal's lies in the Free Press. I'm sorry Mr. Cohen, but "one-sided" is quite a limp-wristed attack on a piece that demanded a strong response. But what's worse is the morally equivalent tone of what follows.

You credit Ahwal for his support of the "two state solution"? Palestinian leadership is interested in a one state solution, and guess which state that solution doesn't include.

Yes, Palestinians and Israelis have both suffered . . . at the hands of the Palestinians.

Anyone who has been paying attention knows that Palestinians and Israelis don't share the same vision. The Palestinian vision is a land without Israel and without Jews. That's more than strong disagreement. That has to be acknowledged when answering libels against Israel and against Jews. You want to compromise with evil? Move over, and let those of us who are willing to raise our voices speak.

Recall what Golda Meir had to say about compromising with our enemies:

I guess we have no choice. Either we do everything that is possible, and may seem to others as impossible, and just give up. Or we do everything that is really impossible and we remain alive. There’s one more basic thing that I think that people outside of Israel must realize, and if they understand and accept that, maybe other things will fall into place.

For instance, we’re not the only people in the world who’ve had difficulties with neighbors; that has happened to many. We are the only country in the world whose neighbors do not say, “We are going to war because we want a certain piece of land from Israel,” or waterways or anything of that kind. We’re the only people in the world where our neighbors openly announce they just won’t have us here. And they will not give up fighting and they will not give up war as long as we remain alive. Here.

So this is the crux of the problem: it isn’t anything concrete that they want from us. That’s why it doesn’t make sense when people say, “Give up this and give up the other place. Give up the Golan Heights,” for instance. What happened when we were not on the Golan Heights? We were not on the Golan Heights before ’67, and for 19 years, Syria had guns up there and shot at our agricultural settlements below. We were not on the Golan Heights! So what, if we give up the Golan Heights, they will stop shooting? We were not in the Suez Canal when the war started.

It’s because Egypt and Syria and the other Arab countries refuse to acquiesce to our existence. Therefore there can be no compromise. They say we must be dead. And we say we want to be alive. Between life and death, I don’t know of a compromise. And that’s why we have no choice.

I await a response. But please be civil. I'm very sensitive.
Cowznofski