ALTHOUGH
THE US Presidential Medal of Freedom has nothing to do with freedom per se, but
is awarded in recognition of individuals who have made “an especially
meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United
States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors,”
in the case of one honoree, the medal’s title should be taken literally. On
Wednesday, when Peres received a letter signed by 106 MKs, who called on US
President Barack Obama to grant clemency to convicted Israeli agent Jonathan
Pollard, the president told MKs Ayelet Shaked and Nachman Shai, who initiated
and delivered the letter and who head the Knesset lobby for Pollard, that it was
both a right and a duty for him to bring the request from across Israel’s
political spectrum to Obama.
“It is my clear responsibility to voice such
clear consensus,” he said, adding that he does so with pride. Peres, who has
raised the Pollard issue with Obama on a number of occasions, said that he could
not recall such previous consensus on either humanitarian or political
issues.
At this stage of the game, it’s not good enough for Peres to
simply play postman. In forwarding the letter, probably via US Secretary of
State John Kerry, he should also return his Medal of Freedom, with a polite note
stating that neither he nor any other Israeli leader can accept an American
award with the word “freedom” in its title while Pollard’s freedom continues to
be denied. It may not initially be the key to Pollard’s cell door, but it will
generate a lot of media attention in the US and beyond, and perhaps Obama will
then be sufficiently embarrassed to finally do the right thing – and sign the
document that will allow Pollard to board a plane for Israel and live out the
remainder of his life as a free man.
Obama's award is from Peres and not from the people of Israel
I'm getting a lot of email asking me how Israel could be awarding its 'highest civilian honor' to the most anti-Israel President of the United States ever, Barack Hussein Obama. Here's some fairly typical coverage from Fox News.
Israel will award President Barack Obama the country's Presidential Medal of Distinction during his upcoming visit.
Israeli President Shimon Peres' office said Monday that Obama will be
recognized for his "unique and significant contribution to
strengthening the State of Israel and the security of its citizens."
Obama is scheduled to visit Israel in March -- his first as president.
Obama has often had a tense relationship with Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu over the Jewish state's West Bank settlement policies
and the lack of peace process with the Palestinians.
But Peres and the committee behind the award noted Obama's overall
friendship and backing of the Iron Dome missile defense system.
Israel's Presidential Medal of Distinction is comparable to the France's "Legion of Honor" or the "Order of Canada."
When this story was covered in Israel, it was clear that this was a medal decided upon and awarded by President Shimon Peres and not by any elected representative of the people of Israel. Notice that the JPost headline is "Peres to honor Obama with medal..." and the article makes quite clear that the medal is a quid pro quo for Obama awarding the medal of freedom to Peres last June. This is from the JPost link:
In the business of presidential medals, reciprocity is the name of the game.
President
Shimon Peres will honor US President Barack Obama with Israel’s highest
civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Distinction, just as Obama
conferred the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian
award, on Peres at a presidential dinner in Washington in June.
Peres
will present the medal to Obama next month at a state dinner in
Jerusalem to be attended by senior Israeli public figures and
representatives of the US administration.
...
In fact no one sings Obama’s praises louder and with greater frequency than Peres.
...
The Presidential Medal of Distinction, which came into being at Peres’s
initiative, was awarded for the first time last year. Among the people
on the advisory committee is Israel’s fifth president Yitzhak Navon, who
in addition to his former role, is one of Peres’s lifelong friends,
and, like the president, is a devoted disciple of David Ben-Gurion.
...
Last year when Peres received the Medal of Freedom, there were many
voices raised in Israel and the United States urging him to decline it
until such time as convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, who has spent
more than quarter of a century in an American prison, is released.
After
Peres accepted the medal, there were those who urged him to give it
back for the same reason. Now advocates for Pollard are protesting the
awarding of a medal to Obama at a time when Pollard’s period of
incarceration is approaching 10,000 days.
Peres giving the award to Obama (and to Henry Kissinger last year) says no more about what Israelis think than Obama presenting a medal of freedom to Toni Morrison said about what Americans think.
But Peres presenting a medal to Obama says even less than Obama presenting a medal to Peres. Obama was at least 'elected' by the 'American people' (the scare quotes are my acknowledgement that some people may have voted more than once). Peres, who has never won a popular election in this country, was elected by the Knesset in a political deal because they had some confidence that he was old enough that he would keep his pants on... unlike our previous President.
If Peres had any morals and convictions, he would decline that medal
unless Obama releases Pollard, thereby forcing Obama to choose between
Jews and Israel - on the one hand - and the heirs of the meshumad
(destroyer) Caspar Weinberger - Yimach Shmo v'Zichro (may his name and
memory be obliterated) - on the other hand.
We Israelis cannot stop Shimon Peres from presenting a medal to whomever he pleases, and the Prime Minister will - probably much to his chagrin - have to show up to the dinner. But trust me on this: This medal has even less meaning than the Nobel Peace Prize that Obama got for his 'future contributions to peace.'
Obama enrages Poles by referring to 'Polish death camps'
The One put his foot in his mouth again yesterday. While presenting a posthumous Medal of Freedom to Polish resistance fighter Jan Karski, Obama referred to 'Polish death camps.'
Let's go to the videotape.
There's a summary of the reaction here. Here's some of it:
UPDATE: National Security Council Spokesman Tommy Vietor tells BuzzFeed: “The President was referring to Nazi death camps operated in Poland. The President has demonstrated in word and deed his rock-solid commitment to our close alliance with Poland."
UPDATE: In a second comment, Vietor said: "The President misspoke - he was referring to Nazi death camps in Poland. We regret this misstatement, which should not detract from the clear intention to honor Mr. Karski and those brave citizens who stood on the side of human dignity in the face of tyranny."
On the one hand, this probably wasn't a smart way to put it, although I understood from the video that Obama was referring to Nazi death camps. But there's something else to be pointed out here.
I think that what's behind the vehement reaction is that many Poles see themselves as victims of the Nazis rather than collaborators - as is the case with the Austrians. Many Poles deem themselves blameless for what happened. But that's not entirely correct. Read some of the accounts of Jews who tried to return to Poland after the war, and you realize that many Poles hated Jews as much as the Germans and the Austrians did. The lady doth protest too much.
Three of my children have been to Poland (not on the March of the Living, but at another time when it's not so crowded). I recall one of them telling me "We flew the Polish airline [LOT] on the way there and El Al on the way back, because once we saw what the Poles did to the Jews, none of us would have agreed to fly a Polish airline on the way back."
Obama to give medal of freedom to novelist who accused Israel of genocide
President Obama has got Israel's back again with that knife.
He's presenting a medal of freedom to British novelist Toni Morrison.
The Nobel-winning author is one of 13 recipients of the prize this year, alongside Bob Dylan, former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright and Israeli president Shimon Peres, said the White House.
"These extraordinary honourees come from different backgrounds and different walks of life, but each of them has made a lasting contribution to the life of our nation," said Obama. "They've challenged us, they've inspired us, and they've made the world a better place. I look forward to recognising them with this award."
But in 2006, Morrison accused 'apartheid Israel' of committing 'genocide.'
Toni Morrison was one of 18 FAMOUS WRITERS including 3 Nobel Laureates who in an Open Letter published worldwide in 2006 slammed Apartheid Israel’s Palestinian Genocide as “[Israel’s] long-term military, economic and geographic practice whose political aim is nothing less than the liquidation of the Palestinian nation”:
“The latest chapter of the conflict between Israel and Palestine began when Israeli forces abducted two civilians, a doctor and his brother, from Gaza. An incident scarcely reported anywhere, except in the Turkish press. The following day the Palestinians took an Israeli soldier prisoner--and proposed a negotiated exchange against prisoners taken by the Israelis--there are approximately 10,000 in Israeli jails.
That this "kidnapping" was considered an outrage, whereas the illegal military occupation of the West Bank and the systematic appropriation of its natural resources--most particularly that of water--by the Israeli Defense (!) Forces is considered a regrettable but realistic fact of life, is typical of the double standards repeatedly employed by the West in face of what has befallen the Palestinians, on the land allotted to them by international agreements, during the last seventy years.
Today outrage follows outrage; makeshift missiles cross sophisticated ones. The latter usually find their target situated where the disinherited and crowded poor live, waiting for what was once called Justice. Both categories of missile rip bodies apart horribly--who but field commanders can forget this for a moment?
Each provocation and counter-provocation is contested and preached over. But the subsequent arguments, accusations and vows, all serve as a distraction in order to divert world attention from a long-term military, economic and geographic practice whose political aim is nothing less than the liquidation of the Palestinian nation.
This has to be said loud and clear, for the practice, only half declared and often covert, is advancing fast these days, and, in our opinion, it must be unceasingly and eternally recognized for what it is and resisted.
PS: As Juliano Mer Khamis, director of the documentary film Arna's Children, asked: "Who is going to paint the 'Guernica' of Lebanon?"
John Berger Noam Chomsky Harold Pinter José Saramago Eduardo Galeano Arundhati Roy Naomi Klein Howard Zinn Charles Glass Richard Falk Gore Vidal Russell Banks Thomas Keneally Chris Abani Carolyn Forché Martín Espada Jessica Hagedorn Toni Morrison.
The Israeli kidnapped was Gilad Shalit. There was no 'Palestinian' doctor kidnapped.
But I would venture to guess that there is a better chance that Bob Dylan won't show up at that ceremony as a result than that Shimon Peres won't show up. And that's the problem. As long as our 'leaders' allow us to be abused, we will continue to be abused.
Surprise: Israel Radio urges Peres to consider boycotting Medal of Freedom ceremony over Pollard
In a surprising move, Israel Radio's morning drive time news anchor Aryeh Golan opened the 7:00 am newscast on Wednesday with a call for President Peres to 'consider' boycotting the Medal of Freedom ceremony in Washington in June unless President Obama brings about Jonathan Pollard's release.
Veteran Israel Radio Morning News anchor Aryeh Golan openned the 7 AM news magazine with a call to President Peres to consider not accepting the Medal of Freedom from President Obama if Obama refuses to release Pollard. "It's only a piece of medal", Golan observed.
I wonder whether President Hussein Obama would consider the votes that he won't gain as a result of having Peres in the White House to be votes he could gain by releasing Pollard.
On the other hand, that's probably a completely theoretical discussion. Peres is too big an egomaniac to pass on that ceremony.
By the way, as I have discussed many times, Israel Radio is very Leftist. The fact that they are joining the campaign to free Pollard is an indication that sentiment in Israel favors freeing him across the board.
He filed the request, but don't expect him to give up his medal
Bowing to public pressure, President Shimon Peres filed a request with President Obama for the immediate release of ailing Israeli citizen Jonathan Pollard. The request was quickly denied by the White House. But I hope that none of you will expect Peres to decline his medal of freedom from President Obama as a result. That won't happen unless there are massive demonstrations outside the President's residence - and maybe not even then. Besides, Peres must figure that Pollard may God forbid be dead by June, and then it won't matter, will it? This is from the second link.
The White House announced Monday that the US administration has rejected President Shimon Peres' request to grant convicted spy Jonathan Pollard clemency.
"Our position has not changed in this case," National Security Council Spokesperson Tommy Vietor said.
The Obama Administration "has no intention to release Pollard," he added.
Earlier, Peres sent a personal letter to US President Barack Obama in which he asked him to pardon the convicted spy on humanitarian grounds.
The Justice for Jonathan Pollard association claims that US President Barack Obama did not refuse Peres' request and that no official response has been received as of yet, contrary to the statement by the National Security Council.
The association said that the statement reflects the administration's current position but does not reflect the president's response to Peres' bid. The group stressed that the president is the only person who can give a pardon.
And this is from the third link.
But Peres's office said he had not received an official response from the White House and that Vietor's statement was issued before Obama had made a decision.
...
The heads of the Pollard caucus in the Knesset, MKs Ronit Tirosh (Kadima) and Uri Ariel (National Union), urged Peres to reconsider accepting the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Obama is he rejects his request for Pollard's freedom.
Tirosh said she had been brought to tears by Vietor's statement, because she had hoped that Peres could succeed due to his close ties with Obama.
"The White House's answer is disappointing," Tirosh said. "Pollard is apparently just a political card for them. If I were Peres, I might not take the medal. I can't understand such wickedness."
Ariel said the quick response from the White House's spokesmen indicated that their behavior was "insensitive and borderline cruel." But he said he still had hope that Obama's official response would be positive.
Obama is giving Peres that medal of freedom because he feels that it will help him with the Jewish vote - and more importantly, with Jewish contributors to his reelection campaign. If Peres had any morals and convictions, he would decline that medal unless Obama releases Pollard, thereby forcing Obama to choose between Jews and Israel - on the one hand - and the heirs of the meshumad (destroyer) Caspar Weinberger - Yimach Shmo v'Zichro (may his name and memory be obliterated) - on the other hand.
Here's a list of the 2010 Medal of Freedom recipients. Unlike last year, there don't seem to be any really controversial figures (last year, we had Mary Robinson and Desmond Tutu).
President George H. W. Bush
Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany
Congressman John Lewis – civil rights activist
John H. Adams – environmentalist
Maya Angelou¬¬ - poet
Warren Buffett – billionair & philanthropist
Gerda Weissmann Klein – Holocaust survivor
Dr. Tom Little (Posthumous) – optometrist murdered by Taliban
Yo-Yo Ma – world renowned cellist
Sylvia Mendez – civil rights activist
Stan Musial – Hall of Fame 1st baseman
Bill Russell – former Boston Celtics capt
Jean Kennedy Smith – sister of JFK; founder of VSA
John J. Sweeney – former AFL-CIO Pres.
For those who didn't know already, yes, I'm a Celtics fan. I saw Russell play in the 1960's. He was a great player (and he was player-coach for his last couple years - you'd never see that today).
But he left the team on terms that were not great. He announced his retirement during the off-season without any warning, leaving the team without a center. He wouldn't allow the team to make a Bill Russell day to retire his number as they had done for his teammates Sam and KC Jones (I was at both of those days), so the team retired his number on a day when he was at the Gahden as a broadcaster and raised the banner at halftime. He wouldn't even acknowledge the crowd. I have a good friend who is the world's expert at getting his picture taken with celebrities and he managed to walk right up to Russell and stand next to him while I snapped his picture (that would never happen today either), but Russell just pretended he wasn't there. I don't know why he was so angry at anyone connected with the Celtics.
In recent years, he has re-established a connection with the team, which I think is wonderful. Russell was probably the best defensive center who ever played the game (you can't even discuss that with me intelligently if you're under 50). He was an awesome shot blocker and a dominating force on the court.
I know far more about him than I do about any of the other recipients (obviously). So please forgive me for waxing nostalgic.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
