Jen Rubin reports:
I caught up with Democratic Congressman Eliot Engel, who was on the road, having already started his congressional recess. I asked him about the Mary Robinson award. He replied without hesitation, “It is obviously a mistake.” He said there are “two Mary Robinsons” – one the first woman president of Ireland, and the second who did a “terrible job” and was “biased against Israel” at the UN.
He explained that “she always managed to find a moral equivalence between fighting for your freedom – Israel – and equating that fact with terrorism.” He says this is an unfortunate occurrence on “the far Left.” He added that he did not want to “blow this up” but that she “should not be given any kind of award.” He reiterated that “she epitomizes all that is wrong with the United Nations” as a one-sided and anti-Israel institution.
Freedom Medals aren’t supposed to be terribly controversial, and one would think this administration has enough on its plate without stirring up a hornet’s nest on behalf of a woman most Americans have never even heard of. Among those Americans who have heard of Robinson — they aren’t big fans. President Obama did his best during the campaign to overcome perceptions that he would not be a friend to Israel. Ever since he’s been in office, he done his best to create the perception that there is significant “daylight” between Washington and Jerusalem. In both cases he’s been very successful. Certainly no one doubts that Obama is taking a different approach to Israel than his predecessors. So why the finger in the eye with Robinson?
