Tillerson Caves, Appoints Anti-Semitism Envoy -
Monitor Criticism of Israel
By Alison
Weir
August
31, 2017 "Information
Clearing House"
- After continuing pressure, Secretary of State
Rex Tillerson has announced that he will name a
special envoy and maintain an office to monitor
alleged anti-Semitism.
All
three previous anti-semitism envoys have been
fervent Israel partisans, two of them working
for AIPAC. The first envoy endorsed a new
definition of the word “anti-Semitism” to
include criticism of Israel; the second adopted
the new, Israel-centric definition; and the
third helped to disseminate the definition
world-wide.
This was part of an international
campaign to
expand the definition of anti-Semitism and embed
this in governments and law enforcement
agencies, potentially criminalizing support for
Palestinian rights.
When it appeared in June that Trump might
eliminate the office in a cost-cutting measure,
he and Tillerson came under immediate attack by
Jewish
organizations
and some
others,
including the Southern Poverty Law Center.
According to a
letter from
Tillerson to the Senate released yesterday, a
number of similar special envoys and
ambassadorships will be maintained, including
the Special Envoy for Israeli-Palestinian
Negotiations (currently filled by Frank
Lowenstein),
the Special Envoy as well as the Special Advisor
for Holocaust Issues (which, among other things,
works with Israel and supports the anti-Semitism
envoy; currently the Special Advisor is
Stuart E. Eizenstat),
and the Ambassador-at-Large for International
Religious Freedom; Kansas Governor
Sam Brownback,
a strong supporter of Israel despite its record
of religious discrimination, has been nominated
for the position.
Dozens
of other special envoy positions are being
eliminated or combined, including ones concerned
with Tibet, disabilities rights, global food
security, cyber issues, global youth issues,
conflict diamonds, the closing of Guantanamo,
and a number that focus on the environment.
This
article was first published by
If Americans Knew
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