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Recent decisions by State Dept reflect pattern & intention to politicize fight against #antisemitism. A betrayal of our broader aspiration/commitment to #humanrights, also undermines cause for which Congress established Special Envoy to Monitor & Combat Anti-Semitism.=>> THREAD
USG has declared three major NGOs to be antisemitic: @HRW @Amnesty @Oxfam. The same haters who threaten them often tend to threaten Jews as well. Ironic? https://twitter.com/tcwittes/status/1319389619914407939?s=20 1/22
In no small part due to 15 years of @USEAntisemitism efforts, branding anyone "antisemitic" today is to deny their legitimacy. When European governments agreed to prioritize fighting antisemitism qua antisemitism, it wasn't in order to censor critics of Israeli practices. 2/22
How perverse... HR Watch was specifically inspired by the atrocities of WWII (i.e., the Holocaust). Amnesty defends dissidents & HR/democracy activists around the world. Oxfam spends 77% of its budget on development programs and disaster relief. GOOD WORKS. 3/22
Yes, rightly or wrongly, these groups are critical of Israel—that's the excuse given for this unprecedented step. At the same time, their work advances US interests, including strong #civilsociety, and makes Jews and other minorities SAFER around the world and in the USA. 4/22
What else is State doing to combat antisemitism? Well, last week it suspended "all training programs related to diversity and inclusion" because POTUS doesn't want anyone being made to feel "that the United States is an inherently racist or evil..."
https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1320551999889440768?s=20 5/22
https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1320551999889440768?s=20 5/22
Here's the link to one of the many press reports... and yes, SEAS Elan Carr himself has done some good work. But there's so much more proof that Team Trump has little interest in fostering a culture where attacks on Jews (or others) are unacceptable... https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/522629-diversity-and-inclusion-training-suspended-at-state-department 6/22
Can we agree antisemitic #hatecrimes are a form of violent extremism? Back in May 2017, the Trump administration's first budget proposal cut all funding to Homeland Security's community-based CVE (countering violent extremism) program. https://forward.com/opinion/world/372933/since-when-is-countering-violent-extremism-a-bad-thing/ 7/22
No need to link to Trump's explicit statements about "very fine people" in Charlottesville, telling Jews they only care about money, praise for antisemitic QAnon conspiracy theories, demonizing Soros & Bloomberg, urging Nazi-style Proud Boys to "stand back and stand by" etc. 8/22
If Trump & Co. are so tolerant/supportive of racism & antisemitism, especially those with violent intent, then why cry "Antisemitism!" now against non-governmental organizations that accuse Israel of human rights violations? Why indeed... 9/22
These NGOs are not accountable to USG (nor should they be) and credibly refute Trump narrative on HR & democracy in USA & in his celebrated "new Middle East"—in Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Egypt - incl. racism, migration, forced famine, LGBTQ, and #ReligiousFreedom/discrimination. 10/22
Sure, this fires up Trump's Evangelical & rt-wing Jewish base, and boosts Israeli PM Netanyahu. It also fits the Trump strategy of attacking the premise of human rights and R2P (responsibility to protect)—the idea that all govts are accountable to the international system. 11/22
In 2018, Trump withdrew USA from UN's Human Rights Council because of Council's "chronic bias against Israel". This means USA isn't there anymore to stand up for Israel, to twist arms, to advance all our goals.
https://www.npr.org/2018/06/19/621435225/u-s-announces-its-withdrawal-from-u-n-s-human-rights-council 12/22
https://www.npr.org/2018/06/19/621435225/u-s-announces-its-withdrawal-from-u-n-s-human-rights-council 12/22
Yes, the Council unfairly singles out Israel, but—far more than the old Human Rights Commission before it—it has also called out other countries. And every UN member state has to now submit to public review of its HR record. Including the USA. Our absence costs us dearly. 13/22
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, on which Council is based, embodies American & Jewish vision arising out of Holocaust & Nuremberg—"Never again". Just how perverse does it get? We're targeting #warcrimes PROSECUTORS with sanctions usually reserved for war CRIMINALS. 14/22
The Int'l Criminal Court embodies core US values against impunity, that all governments be judged to same standard; Trump admin is sanctioning ICC chief prosecutor because she dared investigate credible allegations of US #warcrimes in Afghanistan.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/18/world/europe/trump-sanctions-international-criminal-court.html 15/22
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/18/world/europe/trump-sanctions-international-criminal-court.html 15/22
The more that universal rights are recognized & upheld, the better for US interests and the safer for Jews. When we tear down these institutions and disparage/impede HR advocates—even to stop training our own diplomats to be more inclusive—we give antisemitism a free pass. 16/22
Now to the heralded "IHRA definition" which our antisemitism envoy used to castigate the 3 legendary humanitarian NGOs. In 2016, @TheIHRA Int'l Holocaust Remembrance Alliance adopted a "working definition" of antisemitism to help with data collection, analysis, & awareness. 17/22
