SAN DIEGO — Here is some news on the international front.
President Shimon Peres of Israel paid this tribute to the late Nelson Mandela, who died Dec. 5 at age 95. “The world lost a great leader who changed the course of history. On behalf of the citizens of Israel we mourn alongside the nations of the world and the people of South Africa, who lost an exceptional leader. Nelson Mandela was a fighter for human rights who left an indelible mark on the struggle against racism and discrimination. He was a passionate advocate for democracy, a respected mediator, a Nobel peace prize laureate and above all a builder of bridges of peace and dialogue who paid a heavy personal price for his struggle in the years he spent in prison and fighting for his people. Nelson Mandela’s legacy for his people and for the world will forever remain engraved in the pages of history and the hearts of all those who were touched by him. He will be remembered forever.”
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In Manama, Bahrain, where he gave a speech on Dec. 7 at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel was questioned by a reporter from Iran about why the U.S. takes actions against Iranian nuclear programs, but says nothing about Israel’s. In his answer, Hagel ignored the question about Israel. Here is the exchange.
Q: Sayad Hussein — Good morning, Secretary. You mentioned nonproliferation as one of the major threats in the region. You mentioned Iran and Syria. You know destruction of chemical weapons in Syria just could happen because of joint cooperation between the U.S., Iran and Russia. Therefore, here you should thank Iran to cooperating for destruction of chemical weapons in Syria. Second, you mentioned Iran. You are right. The U.S. has orchestrated the most pressures in a decade against Iran. While Iran does not have a single nuclear bomb, Iran has given 5,000 man-day inspections to IAEA. Iran is member of NPT. There is no evidence of diversion in Iranian nuclear program. But you did not mention at all Israel, which possesses 400 nuclear bombs in the Middle East. You didn’t mention just a single word about the major threat of nuclear bomb in this region which is Israel, because this is the only country has nuclear weapon. What the U.S. is going to do? You are doing all pressures against Iran, while Iran doesn’t have any nuclear bomb, and you are doing nothing about Israel, while you know Israelis, they have nuclear bombs.
SEC. HAGEL: As to the last comment, I would just refer you back to Iran being in violation of many United Nations resolutions. And the international community is pretty clear on Iran’s position, past positions. We are all — the P5-plus-one, I think the world community is hopeful, but, as I said in my comments, very clear-eyed about trying to get to a position over the next six months that focuses on complete, unfettered verification efforts by the IAEA inside of Iran, and there are other dimensions to that relationship.
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In San Diego, J.J. Surbeck, executive director of the pro-Israel organization Training and Education About the Middle East (TEAM) has sent a request to Facebook friends to join a boycott against the American Studies Association (ASA) in response to a recommendation by ASA’s national council to boycott any formal relationships with Israeli institutions.
The membership of the ASA has until Dec. 15th to vote on the proposal, which critics say penalizes Israeli professors just for being Israeli and therefore is a proposal that is racist in nature. Those interested in following Surbeck’s lead may find more information on the boycott at the Boycott ASA Facebook Page.
–Donald H. Harrison