'Those biased against Jews are most in need of Holocaust education'

US Congressmen protest British journalists' boycott against Israel and dropping of Shoah curricula.

By HILARY LEILA KRIEGER, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT
boycott Israel 88 (photo credit: )
boycott Israel 88
(photo credit: )
Two US Congressmen on Monday protested to British officials the boycott against Israel by a UK journalists' union and the dropping of Holocaust curricula in some English schools. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-New York), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the Middle East, and Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-Nevada) wrote that the boycott by the British National Union of Journalists exhibited "a remarkable disdain for the truth, and utter disregard for any semblance of fairness" in a letter to the British ambassador to the US. They also asked for clarification on the government's policy as represented in news accounts "indicating that some teachers in your country's secondary schools are refusing to teach about the Holocaust due to the perceived sensitivities of their Muslim students." They wrote, "It is our strong opinion that those students who may harbor a bias against Jews, or who may associate the Holocaust with Israeli policies they oppose are, in fact, the people most in need of education on the universal significance of the Nazi genocide against the Jewish people and other groups." Also Monday, Rep. Steve Rothman (D-New Jersey) called for greater government oversight of Al-Hurra, an American-produced news network aimed at the Arab world. Following reports that the channel has run live, uncut interviews with leading terrorists, including Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Rothman proposed greater regulation of the channel. "No sane person thinks that allowing terrorists to spout off live and unedited on media programs that are intended to promote the US's image abroad is in our country's best interests," Rothman declared. "Yet, that's exactly what a US-funded TV station overseen in part by [Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs] Karen Hughes's office did."