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Four
Jewish Groups Boycott Meeting With Mubarak In U.S.
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| ADL
director Abraham Foxman's absence prompted Jewish groups’ boycott of
meeting with Mubarak |
WASHINGTON,
March 6 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - At least four leading American
Jewish organizations boycotted a meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak
on Tuesday in response to efforts by the Egyptian government to exclude
Anti-Defamation League National Director Abraham Foxman, the Jerusalem Post
reported.
"ADL
have sharply and routinely criticized anti-Semitic portrayals in the Egyptian
media. This year, as in past years, the ADL timed the distribution of its annual
report on anti-Semitism in Egypt to coincide with Mubarak's visit to
Washington," the paper said.
Last
year, the Egyptians substituted a joint luncheon with American Arabs and
American Jews for the traditional tete-a-tete with Jewish leaders. Many Jewish
leaders boycotted the event in protest.
Again
this year, the Egyptians decided to hold a separate meeting with Jewish leaders.
The Egyptian Embassy asked the American Jewish Committee a few weeks ago to
chair the event, but specified that the ADL not be invited.
However,
the AJC said that the event could not be held without ADL, because it was a
mainstream Jewish organization. After negotiations, the Egyptians finally agreed
Sunday, March 3, to invite the ADL's Washington director, Jesse Hordes, but
specified that Foxman should not be included, reported the Post.
After
further discussions, the format was modified and it was decided that lay
leaders, instead of professional staff members like Foxman, would be invited,
thereby avoiding the issue of whether Foxman would be invited or not, the paper
added.
The
ADL then said it would not attend the meeting. This was followed by four Jewish
organizations boycotting the meeting in solidarity with ADL including American
Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), B'nai B'rith, and the Conference of
Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
"This
clearly was a maneuver not to invite Abe Foxman, so we said no," Hordes
said. "I think this is the first time they have tried to micromanage and
screen out leaders from mainstream Jewish organizations."
Present,
among others, were representatives of the AJC, Israel Policy Forum, Jewish
Council for Public Affairs, and Americans for Peace Now.
Jason
Isaacson, the AJC's director of governmental and international affairs, said the
meeting with Mubarak was constructive, adding that he regrets other
organizations were not there, the Post said.
Isaacson
said if the Egyptians had anticipated they would hear less complaints about
anti-Semitism by leaving out the ADL or Foxman, they had miscalculated.
"If
that was their concern, they made a big mistake by inviting the American Jewish
Committee."
In
a statement released Monday, March 4, Foxman said the ADL has raised the issue
of anti-Semitism in the Egyptian press "on many occasions, and [Mubarak]
responds with the argument that Egypt is a democratic society and that the
government cannot dictate the views of editors and writers and producers.”
"There
is a basic fallacy in that logic,” Fox claimed, "because leaders in a
free society have a responsibility to speak out against anti-Semitism. President
Mubarak must condemn anti-Semitism in his society. His silence implies
acceptance."
Speaking
Tuesday at a luncheon arranged by the Council on Foreign Relations and the
Middle East Institute, Mubarak reiterated his response that the press in Egypt
is free, the paper said.
"Sometimes
you think that the press is still as it was 30 years ago,” said Mubarak. “We
cannot prevent anybody from writing any article. If there is an article that is
against the law, they go to the court."
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