<< For a little balance, two other items from the Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5425-2002Apr29.html "Who's Anti-Semitic?">>
I tend to agree with Richard Cohen. It is possible to criticize Israel without being anti-Semitic. However, I do not believe this is the case with most critics of Israel. Few of them ever criticize anyone else for doing things far worse than what they accuse Israel of doing. Few of them acknowledge the crimes committed against Israel or that the Israelis are, as I've said numerous times, scared out of their minds. A little balance would go a long way to convince Israelis that the critics simply don't mean them ill. <<and http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64779-2002Apr28.html This is a rebuttal to Krauthammer's editorial's description of Mr. Cornelio Sommaruga of the ICRC. I wonder who's right? >> Quoting from the letter: "In fact these are two distinct bodies. The ICRC has only individual members, who are all Swiss nationals, so there could be no question of the MDA being admitted to it. As head of the ICRC Mr. Sommaruga did, however, fight for 13 years to create the legal basis for recognition of the MDA, and -- as Israeli officials have testified -- he was behind a compromise that would have allowed the MDA to join the international federation in 2000. Sadly, the meeting at which this should have happened was postponed after the current violence broke out, and it has not yet been rescheduled." But why did he have to fight for 13 years? Why wasn't the MDA simply recognized a long time ago? (I really don't know; does anyone?) "The second allegation, or insinuation, relates to a conversation Mr. Sommaruga had with Bernadine Healy, then president of the American Red Cross, in 1999, when he asked her rhetorically whether she would be ready to accept a red swastika, which had been requested by an Asian country as a Buddhist and Hindu symbol. Alan Baker, legal adviser to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, was present during this conversation. The Jerusalem Post said, quoting Mr. Baker, that "using this comment to allegedly show an anti-Jewish bias on [Mr.] Sommaruga's part 'is a vile manipulation of something said in a different context.' " I'm sorry, asking that kind of question, even rhetorically, shows monumental insensitivity. He should have known better. I hope he apologized. In any case, I am willing to accept that he is not an objectionable person. I think Israel should admit the fact-finding mission, but I can understand their assuming that it's just another excuse for the rest of the world to pick on Israel. Why is there no fact-finding mission into how the Arabs can keep sending suicide bombers into Israel despite the PA's legal responsibility to stop it? Tom Beck "I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I didn't realize I'd also see the last." - Jerry Pournelle
