'Mea culpa' from the State Department on Fulbright
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack admitted yesterday that his department was at least partially responsible for the Fulbright kerfuffle.State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the U.S. reversal came on orders from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who first heard about the scholarship snafu on Friday.Sorry but none of the issues I raised was even addressed.
"She wasn't pleased," McCormack said.
Israel and the United States have tried not to point fingers in public over the scholarship incident, but each government clearly thinks the other made mistakes early on. Israeli officials say U.S. diplomats didn't ask for special exemptions for the Fulbright students, while U.S. officials say Israel should have recognized immediately that these were a special case. U.S. officials also blame themselves.
McCormack appeared to blame lower-level U.S. diplomats or support staff for the decision to yank the scholarships without discussing the implications with enough higher-ups.
"On our side there was some decision-making that in retrospect we wouldn't have taken," he said. "The secretary is just pleased that it's been fixed, or will be fixed."
David Siegel, spokesman at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, defended Israel's Gaza closure policy.
"Hamas exploits every opportunity to send terrorists and weapons across the border, including under the guise of humanitarian cases," Siegel said. "Israel has a strong interest in the emergence of a moderate and educated Palestinian leadership."
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:17 AM
3 Comments:
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Sorry but education will not make the Palestinians more moderate. Steven Plaut observed some years ago that the more educated an Arab is, the more extreme his views towards Israel. The notion that highly educated people can be civilized and humane was debunked in Germany. Well educated doctors and professors were responsible for the worst atrocities. The Palestinians need genuine moral instruction. But they are not going to get it in Western universities, that are cesspools of moral relativism and the belief that all cultures are created equal - except of course for Israel and America. Again, I would like to know where it is written Israel must oblige her enemies with getting more aptitude and skills to facilitate her eventual destruction? All of these are issues lost in the uproar over the State Department Fulbright scholarships.
NormanF,
That was actually a study and it didn't just concern the 'Palestinians.' The study found that the more educated the Muslims, the more violent.
One need look no further than thyroid surgeon Mahmoud Zahar and pediatrician Ahmed Tibi for proof.
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