AIPAC slams Obama for honoring Mary Robinson

international | anti-war / imperialism | other press Wednesday August 05, 2009 16:34 by redjade

Mary Robinson's 'long public record of hostility and one-sided bias against the Jewish state'

AIPAC slams Obama for honoring 'anti-Israel' ex-Irish president

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) on Tuesday slammed the Obama administration for its decision to give a former Irish president the presidential Medal of Freedom, saying they were "deeply disappointed" by the move.

In a statement, the pro-Israel group cited what it called Mary Robinson's "long public record of hostility and one-sided bias against the Jewish state" as making her unsuitable to receive the nation's highest civilian honor.

The statement cites Robinson's role in leading the "deeply flawed" UN Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) and for her supervision of the 2001 Durban Conference on Racism, which was boycotted by the United States and equated Zionism with racism.

The statement claims Robinson's conduct on the UNHRC was "deeply flawed" and "marred by extreme, one-sided anti-Israel sentiment", and cites a 2002 UNHRC vote that "sought to condone Palestinian suicide bombings and terrorism".

• more at http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1105197.html

Mary Robinson
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Robinson

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee
http://www.aipac.org/