A broad range of Jewish groups continues to condemn Yeshiva University's decision to give an award to former President Jimmy Carter. Two of the latest to weigh in are
the Anti-Defamation League and the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
Abraham Foxman, the ADL’s National Director, told The Algemeiner: “The
students were wrong – they are entitled to be wrong and inappropriate
and we are entitled to say that honoring former President Carter is
wrong, especially for a Jewish institution…and indeed for any
institution. Desmond Tutu, who is more problematic than Jimmy Carter
when it comes to issues relating to Israel, was also honored. I
wouldn’t do it. I wouldn’t vote for it, I wouldn‘t support it. We
need to do a better job educating – wrongly stigmatizing Israel does
not help to resolve the problems. Hopefully if we instill those
values, future mistakes like this will not be made.”
Foxman added that “the University responded properly,” to the controversy.
Likewise Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal
Center, told The Algemeiner that the students did not “exercise due
diligence .”
“Had they done so,’ he added, “they would have discovered that Mr
Carter has never resolved his conflict with the Jewish state. His
serial bias against Israel is well-documented. That alone should have
led tomorrow’s lawyers, whatever their ethnicity or religion, to
conclude that President Carter should not receive such an honor.”
This award has likely been in the works for months. Why did no one hear about it until the last week?
No comments:
Post a Comment