Sunday 24th of November 2024
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blaming the brotherly conflict...

brotherly conflict

US President Barack Obama's administration has rejected Republican calls to fire the ambassador to Belgium after he suggested that Israeli actions against Palestinians, including settlement building and military strikes, were partly to blame for anti-Semitism in Europe.

Ambassador Howard Gutman, who is Jewish and the son of a Holocaust survivor, said in a speech that a new type of anti-Semitism had emerged in Europe that was not "classic bigotry" but instead linked to "continuing tensions" between Israel and the Palestinian territories and other Arab neighbours.

Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, frontrunners for the Republican presidential nomination, both called on Obama to dismiss Gutman and renewed charges that his administration was not supportive enough of Israel. But both the White House and State Department said on Monday that Gutman would remain.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2011/12/2011126231822136.html

fighting hatred and bigotry...

"It is the area where every new settlement announced in Israel, every rocket shot over a border or suicide bomber on a bus, and every retaliatory military strike exacerbates the problem and provides a setback here in Europe for those fighting hatred and bigotry," he said.

"Were a lasting peace in the Middle East to be reached, were joint and co-operative Israeli-Arab attentions turned to focus instead on such serious, common threats such as Iran, this second type of ethnic tension and bigotry here in Europe - which is clearly growing today - would clearly abate."

Mr Gutman later issued a statement to stress that he condemned all forms of anti-Semitism, adding: "I deeply regret if my comments were taken the wrong way."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16041640