It's been 22 years since Madeleine Albright was a foreign policy adviser to President Jimmy Carter, 17 years since she was America's ambassador to the United Nations, and 13 since she was secretary of state. Yet all these years later, Albright is still pressuring Israel and trying to appease Israel's enemies.
Like many former government officials, Mrs. Albright, who is now a professor at Georgetown University, keeps showing up in the media as a foreign affairs expert. Unfortunately, she's doing it at Israel's expense. Interviewed by CNN's Wolf Blitzer on July 22, Albright paid lip-service to Israel's right to self-defense, but then got to her main point, accusing Israel of “overdoing it” in Gaza. She said Israel's anti-terrorism actions are “disproportionate” and claimed Israel has lost its “moral authority.”
This is the same Madeleine Albright who was asked by Lesley Stahl on “Sixty Minutes,” on May 12, 1996, if international sanctions against Iraq were worth it, since “we have heard that half a million [Iraqi] children have died.” Albright replied: “We think the price is worth it.” So much for proportionality!
This is the same Madeleine Albright who helped bring about NATO air strikes on Yugoslavia in the Kosovo war in the spring of 1999, killing more than 2,000 people. So much for “overdoing it”!
This is the same Madeleine Albright who worked overtime to sell Yasir Arafat to the world as a peacemaker. Few of us will ever forget the incredible events of October 4, 2000, when Albright, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, and Arafat were meeting at the residence of the U.S. ambassador in Paris. Arafat had one of his usual tantrums and stormed out of the meeting. Albright went running down the hall after him, stumbling in her high heels, and shouting to the guards, “Shut the gates! Shut the gates!” in the hope of blocking Arafat's car from leaving. A Palestinian negotiator happened to be in the hallway, speaking on the phone to a Reuters correspondent, just as the chase and shouting erupted. The Reuters reporter overheard what happened and broke the story.
Less than 15 months later, Israel intercepted a ship carrying 50 tons of weapons that Arafat was trying to smuggle into Gaza. His image as a “moderate” was blown forever. But Albright has never once acknowledged she was wrong about Arafat.
I've had my own share of unfortunate experiences with Mrs. Albright.
Several years after my daughter, Alisa, was murdered by Palestinian Arab terrorists, the Israeli government identified, by name, several of the suspects involved in the attack. I repeatedly asked Secretary Albright's State Department to post a reward for information leading to the capture of the killers. They eventually caved in to public pressure, but at the first opportunity pulled back on the rewards program. Today, the U.S. government's “Rewards for Justice” web site makes no mention of Alisa or any other murdered Americans, and there is no reward to help capture their murderers.
Meanwhile, my family and I sued the government of Iran for sponsoring the group that carried out the attack (Islamic Jihad). The courts ruled in our favor. Other victims of Iranian-sponsored terrorism won similar lawsuits. We tried to collect the judgments that the courts awarded from Iranian assets that were frozen in the United States. But Secretary Albright fought us tooth and nail.
The Clinton administration was hoping to renew relations with Iran, so it didn't want a penny of the terror-sponsors' money being touched. Albright also initiated various steps to ease sanctions on Teheran, such as lifting the ban on U.S. imports of Iranian carpets, pistachio nuts and caviar. Appeasing the Iranians and improving their economy was more important than justice for the many Americans killed by Iranian-sponsored terror groups.
Now, all these years later, Albright continues to show more concern for Palestinian terrorists and their Iranian sponsors than for their Israeli and American victims.
If Albright has her way, Israel will cease firing, Hamas will be free to rebuild its terror state, and the Iranians will continue to win again. It's Albright, not Israel, who has lost her “moral authority.”
(Mr. Flatow, a New Jersey attorney, is the father of Alisa Flatow, who was murdered by Palestinian terrorists in 1995.)
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 and housing of all types.</p>
<p> I am involved in the advocacy side of the work that we do at Jewish World Watch, and now being here in person has made me feel better informed, emboldened and empowered to continue. In village after village, we saw hundreds of children of all ages by the side of the road, and were told that virtually none of these children have access to education. In fact, in a country of 71 million people, 7 million are children eligible for school, but who cannot afford to attend. Jewish World Watch is already involved with some very successful <a href=)
“>educational . We went to the town of Nyabibwe to visit the mine and discuss with the Congolese living in the village the possibility of an education project for the children. After meeting with the children, parents and officials in the village, we went to see the mine.</p>
<p> We were led to the entrance of the mine — a man- made hole in the side of the mountain — and continued to walk about 500 feet up the very narrow muddy passageway of the mine to where the men were working. As we climbed up, the air became thick and hot. It was tight and hard to breathe. We found the men working in a tiny space – chipping away at the tin. We sat and talked with them. It had taken them one and a half years to get to this point in the mountain. The mine would now be worked for about five years. It is hard, grueling work, but it is a livelihood that has the potential to do much for the men and their community.</p>
<p> Consistent with the Congo Mining Code, the men have formed a cooperative that shares all the profits. They elect a committee that serves for two years and helps manage the profits. The committee makes decisions about buying new equipment or loaning miners money for projects. All of this is a far cry from the days when the rebels controlled the mines and plundered the profits while at the same time destroying communities, raping women and abducting children. As the demand for conflict-free minerals has grown, the power of the rebel groups has diminished and communities are beginning to find ways to profit from these resources.</p>
<p> The Enough Project, JWW's trusted partner in our work in Congo, recently published a report that examines the impact of the Dodd-Frank law which mandates that U.S. companies know where their minerals originate and if they are in fact certified as “conflict free.” The results are encouraging. According to Enough, armed groups and the Congolese army are no longer present at 67% of tin, tantalum, and tungsten mines surveyed in eastern Congo’s North Kivu, South Kivu, and Maniema provinces. But this is just a start. In the DRC, there are still many mines that are not certified. Even more importantly, in most cases, the surrounding communities do not yet derive any benefit from the mines. Much thought needs to go into strategizing about how the profits and benefits can be shared by all.</p>
<p> I would like to take credit for this metaphor but I can't. This afternoon, our amazing consultant and friend, Amani Mataboro who accompanied us into the mine, said that the climb inside the mine was like Congo. As you keep walking, you begin to think you will never get to the top but then suddenly you see the men and you are there. His hope is that Congo is like that climb. One day, suddenly she will finally be the country –with all her beauty and possibility –we all know she can be.</p>
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