The following letter, I am informed, is now circulating for signatures among members of the House:
Dear Mr. President:
We are writing to respectfully request that you reconsider your decision to award a Presidential Medal of Freedom to former Irish President Mary Robinson. While we are aware of her achievements, they are outweighed by her failed, biased record as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997 to 2002.
As High Commissioner, Robinson personified the anti-Israel bias that pervades the United Nations system. She repeatedly singled out the Jewish state for condemnation, while often mitigating or excusing violent Palestinian extremism. In 1998, Robinson called a riotous grouping of Palestinians throwing Molotov cocktails and rocks, among other things, as a “peaceful assembly.” She led a one-sided, anti-Israel “fact-finding” mission to the Middle East in 2000 and repeatedly denounced Israel’s efforts to defend its citizens from attack by violent extremists. She even hired as a senior adviser someone who once compared Israel9s self-defense measures to Nazi regulations.
Robinson also bears significant blame for the 2001 World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa (Durban I). Under her leadership, radical regimes hijacked Durban I and turned it into an anti-Israel, anti-Semitic, anti-American hatefest.
Our late colleague Representative Tom Lantos, who attended the conference, correctly noted that for “many of us present at the events at Durban, it is clear that much of the responsibility for the debacle rests on the shoulders of [High Commissioner] Mary Robinson, who, in her role as secretary-general of the conference, failed to provide the leadership needed to keep the conference on track. Indeed, she obstructed efforts to prevent the conference from devolving into an Israel-bashing event.” Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel also noted Robinson’s failure to address the problems with Durban I.
Her conduct as High Commissioner politicized both the office and the human rights issue itself, undermining both. However, instead of demonstrating regret for her conduct, Robinson has reaffirmed it. She denied the conference’s failure, claiming that “Durban achieved its objective. It yielded an extraordinarily important document for those who suffer discrimination and marginalization and racism.” She also derided her critics in terms bordering on bigotry, claiming “bullying by certain elements of the Jewish community.”
Mr. President, you did the right thing by staying away from a biased Durban Review Conference (Durban II) that reaffirmed Durban I’s declaration, noting that “if you adopted all the language from 2001, that’s just not something we could sign up for… our participation would have involved putting our imprimatur on something that we just don’t believe.” Likewise, awarding this nation’s highest civilian honor to Mary Robinson risks putting our imprimatur on a biased record that contravenes our nation’s deepest values. Therefore, in keeping with your decision on Durban II, we respectfully request that you not grant Ms. Robinson this distinction.
Sincerely,
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
Ranking Member House Committee on Foreign AffairsThaddeus McCotter
Chairman Republican House Policy Committee
It seems that, at least in the House, some want no part of honoring Robinson or her anti-Israel record.
UPDATE: As the time of this writing, there are 45 signatories:
Ros-Lehtinen, McCotter, Cantor, Pence, Carter, Smith (TX), Price (GA), Hensarling, Smith (NJ), Burton, Manzullo, Royce, Bartlett, Stearns, Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Goodlatte, Frelinghuysen, LaTourette, Tiahrt, LoBiondo, Bono Mack, Culberson, Kirk, Tiberi, Rogers (MI), Wilson (SC), Bishop, Blackburn, Burgess, Mario Diaz-Balart, Franks, Garrett, King (IA), Poe, Lungren, Conaway, McHenry, Bachmann, Bilirakis, Buchanan, Jordan, Lamborn, Thompson (PA), Lance, Luetkemeyer.
