By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO — MAZON: The Jewish Response to Hunger, on Monday applauded the confirmation by a 51-40 Senate vote of Rep. Deb Haaland, a member of the Laguna Pueblo, to be U.S. Interior Secretary, the first Native American to hold the post. Also, on Monday, President Joe Biden announced he is nominating Jamie Simms Hipp, a member of the Chickasaw Nation and CEO of the Native American Agriculture Fund, to serve as general counsel for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Mia Hubbard, Mazon’s vice president of programs, commented: “Secretary Haaland’s leadership at the Interior Department represents a watershed moment for Indian Country and a step forward for the United States’ recognition of the trust and treaty obligations we owe to Tribes and Native Americans. She understands from personal experience that we must invest in indigenous communities and engage in meaningful government-to-government consultation. Secretary Haaland has openly testified about the importance of federal food security policies, and MAZON is honored to be her partner in building more self-determination and equity into federal programs and institutions. as an anti-hunger organization informed by Jewish values of ‘repairing the world,’ we are proud to welcome Secretary Haaland’s promises to renew the federal government’s obligations to Tribes so that indigenous communities everywhere have the resources they need in order to thrive.
Rexponding to the nomination of Hipp, Hubbard said: “Jamie is a longtime partner and friend of MASON, through her prior roles in the Obama administration, the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative at the University of Arkansas, and the Native American Agriculture Fund. She is a force of nature, a profound visionary, and a fierce advocate for policies that ensure food security and food sovereignty in Indian Country. There is truly no one who is better poised to ensure that USDA’s programs truly meet the needs of all Americans.”
As soon as Haaland was confirmed, Victor Reyes announced his campaign to succeed her in Congress was going in over drive. A press release from Sean Meloy, vice president of political programs for the LGBTQ Victory Fund stated: “Victor is more than prepared to make history as New Mexico’s first out [as a gay man] member of Congress. As New Mexico Governor Micehlle Lujan Grisham’s top aide, he worked tirelessly to pass pro-equality legislation. But with other candidates already launching bigoted attacks, we have to be ready for anything that comes next.”
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The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, better known as the Orthodox Union, welcomed the reintroduction in the U.S. Senate of WORK NOW, an acronym for Work Opportunities and Resources to Keep Nonprofit Organizations Well. Introduced by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota), Senate Bill 740 “would establish a grant program to provide emergency relief to eligible workers who are serving community needs that have increased because of the pandemic,” according to an OU spokesman. OU’s executive director for public policy, Nathan Diamant, commented “the organizations are facing the twin challenges of dwindling donations and decreases in revenue, which has resulted in a dramatic job loss. Now, more than ever, our nonprofits must get the support they need so they may hire more workers, scale their efforts and help the many people who count on us during these times of crisis.”
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Americans for Peace and Tolerance (APT) are not very tolerant of two people whom President Joe Biden has nominated for senior posts in his administration: Colin Kahl for undersecretary of defense for policy, and Uzra Zeya, for undersecretary of civilian security, democracy, and human rights.
“Both have histories of hostility to Jews and Israel,” according to the organization. Attributing its information to the Washington Free Beacon, APT said Zeya “was a research assistant on a book which decried how the ‘Israel lobby’ maliciously controls American policy-making, an old and anti-Semitic conspiracy theory which the evidence does not back up.” Kahl, according tot he organization, “opposes sanctions against Iran, has called opponents of the [2015 nuclear] deal [with Iran] “hawks” and possibly was involved in removing a statement affirming that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel from the 2012 DNC platform.”
Meanwhile, Christians United for Israel is running advertisements in West Virginia newspapers calling on that state’s residents to write to Democratic Senator Joe Manchin to vote against Kahl’s nomination, potentially derailing it if Republicans in the 50-50 chamber unite against Kahl. In the ad, Pastor Doug Joseph writes: “Kohl’s hostility towards Israel is beyond unconventional. It’s outlandish. While serving in the Obama administration, he led an effort to strip recognition of Israel’s true capital of Jerusalem from the Democratic Party’s platform. Around the same time, Kahl argued in The Washington Post that Israel’s daring 1981 operation to destroy Saddam Hussein’s Osirak nuclear reactor was a failure, despite its actual real-world success, and came dangerously close to pinning Saddam’s subsequent behavior on Israel…. Kahl’s disqualifying positions are not limited to his antagonism towards Israel. he has held numerous positions concerning Iran that call his judgment into question. Among the most disturbing was his opposition to America’s designation of Iran’s ruthless Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (RGC) as Foreign Terrorist Organization. The RGC and its proxies are responsible for terror attacks around the globe, in addition to the deaths of numerous Americans and Israelis.”
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Will Rodriguez-Kennedy, chairman of the San Diego County Democratic Party, has come to the aid of Charda Bell-Fontenot, a La Mesa-Spring Valley School Board member who has been criticized by fellow school board members for the tone of comments she made at a Feb. 23 meeting when it was decided to return students to their classrooms.
According to Rodriguez-Kennedy, Bell-Fontenot “made impassioned statements calling for consideration of the difference in risks of COVID-19 impacts to households of color and teachers in the district,” while also calling on her fellow Board members “to recognize their privilege. Without providing appropriate context, media outlets covered her statements as though they were racially divisive, and exclusively highlighted criticisms of here tone and choice of words, rather than the disparities she was calling attention to. … When brave leaders like Charda Bell-Fortenot speak up for families and teachers, we need to stand with them.”
He urged party faithful to submit to the board audio or written comments in support of Bell-Fortenot before 4 p.m. tomorrow (Tuesday), the day the board will meet. Among questions that Rodriguez-Kennedy suggested be asked was: “How is the District proactively providing for the educational and safety needs of students who are from more economically depressed regions in the District, and centering their needs regarding school reopening.”
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This column is culled from news releases, which may be sent to San Diego Jewish World via editor@sdjewishworld.com