→Political writings: removed non-sourced material, added sourced, corrected RS, general editing |
→Reception: removed non-sourced material, added and edited RS with better links |
||
Line 50: | Line 50: | ||
==Reception== |
==Reception== |
||
[[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|Radio Free Europe]] calls him "a leading U.S. expert on the Middle East."<ref>[http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2004/03/mil-040323-rferl01.htm Middle East: Will Israel's Killing Of Hamas Leader Affect U.S. Policy?] by Jeffrey Donovan, [[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|Radio Free Europe]], March 23, 2004.</ref> |
Jeffrey Donovan, writing in [[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|Radio Free Europe]] calls him "a leading U.S. expert on the Middle East."<ref>[http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2004/03/mil-040323-rferl01.htm Middle East: Will Israel's Killing Of Hamas Leader Affect U.S. Policy?] by Jeffrey Donovan, [[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|Radio Free Europe]], March 23, 2004.</ref> |
||
Jewish daily ''[[The Forward]]'' credits him for publicizing the "[[Arab Peace Initiative|Saudi plan]]".<ref>[http://www.forward.com/articles/saudis-push-bush-team-on-peace-plan/ Saudis Push Bush Team On Peace Plan] by Nathan Guttman, ''[[The Forward]]'', January 19, 2007.</ref> Journalist [[David Rieff]] calls him "the most perceptive American observer-participant in the last two decades of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.".<ref>[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C03E7DE143AF936A15757C0A9629C8B63 Arafat Among the Ruins] by [[David Rieff]], ''The New York Times'', April 25, 2004.</ref> On the other hand, CAMERA (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America) has stated that Siegman's reporting is full of "Falsehoods that distort and denigrate", "Hypocrisy and double standards", and that "An examination of his body of work reveals his analyses to be little more than thinly veiled propaganda promoting the Palestinian perspective on the conflict with Israel." <ref>http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=139&x_article=1197</ref> |
|||
Nathan Guttman, writing in ''[[The Forward]]'' said that Siegman helped to publicize the "[[Arab Peace Initiative|Saudi plan]]", after it was revealed publically for the first time in the New York Times.<ref>[http://www.forward.com/articles/saudis-push-bush-team-on-peace-plan/ Saudis Push Bush Team On Peace Plan] by Nathan Guttman, ''[[The Forward]]'', January 19, 2007.</ref> In addition, Guttman writes that Siegman is in the "far-left corner of the Middle East worldview."<ref>[http://forward.com/articles/163410/behind-henry-siegmans-turn-on-israel/?p=all Behind Henry Siegman's Turn on Israel]</ref> |
|||
Journalist [[David Rieff]] said, in 2004, that Siegman is "perhaps the most perceptive American observer-participant in the last two decades of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations."<ref>[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C03E7DE143AF936A15757C0A9629C8B63 Arafat Among the Ruins] by [[David Rieff]], ''The New York Times'', April 25, 2004.</ref> |
|||
CAMERA ([[Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America]]) has stated that Siegman's writings are full of "falsehoods that distort and denigrate", "hypocrisy and double standards", and that "an examination of his body of work reveals his analyses to be little more than thinly veiled propaganda promoting the Palestinian perspective on the conflict with Israel." One example includes an op-ed article in 2006 where Siegman states "since Israel’s disengagement from Gaza last year ... Palestinian civilians have been killed by Israeli artillery and airstrikes virtually on a daily basis." The Los Angeles Times, where it was published, issued a correction when it was pointed out to them that this was not the case, and in fact, was very infrequent.<ref>[http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=139&x_article=1197 Henry Siegman's Expertise: Bashing Israel at Every Turn]</ref> |
|||
[[Abraham Foxman]], national director of the [[Anti-Defamation League]], said that Siegman was known as holding left-of-center views that fit with the American Jewish Congress’s liberal approach, and that "when he left the organization, it became clearer he was no longer a critic of Israel, that his criticism borders being anti-Israel."<ref>[http://forward.com/articles/163410/behind-henry-siegmans-turn-on-israel/?p=all Behind Henry Siegman's Turn on Israel]</ref> |
|||
==References== |
==References== |
Revision as of 14:24, 24 January 2013
Henry Siegman | |
---|---|
Born | 1930 Frankfurt, Weimar Republic (now Frankfurt, Germany) |
Occupation | Writer and journalist |
Nationality | American |
Henry Siegman (born 1930) is a German-born American, president of the "U.S./Middle East Project". He is a non-resident research professor at the Sir Joseph Hotung Middle East Program, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, a former Senior Fellow on the Middle East at the Council on Foreign Relations, and a former National Director of the American Jewish Congress.[1]
Early life and education
Siegman, a Jewish American, was born in 1930 in Frankfurt, Weimar Republic (now Frankfurt, Germany).[2] Moving to the United States, Siegman studied and was ordained as an Orthodox Rabbi by Yeshiva Torah Vodaas. He served as a chaplain in the Korean War, where he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart.[3][4]
Career
He is a former Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Prior to that, he was the Executive Director of the American Jewish Congress (1978–1994).[5]
Political views
Siegman is a critic of Israeli policies in the West Bank. Former Israel ambassador to the United States Itamar Rabinovich identified his views as similar to that of Meretz's left wing.[6]
Siegman supports the idea of moral equivalence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.[7] He advocates engagement with Hamas[8] and believes that Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas is able to form a unity goverment between Hamas and his own Fatah and make peace with Israel.[9] Siegman met with Khaled Mashal, Hamas leader in Syria.[10]
He says that Yasser Arafat made a "disastrous mistake" in rejecting the peace offer, but that "based on my 14 years of dealings with Arafat, I reject the notion that he was bent on Israel's destruction."[11] Siegman is critical of Ariel Sharon, about whom he wrote: "The war Sharon is waging is not aimed at the defeat of Palestinian terrorism but at the defeat of the Palestinian people and their aspirations for national self-determination."[12]
He strongly defended former president Jimmy Carter's book Palestine Peace Not Apartheid.[13] He has also criticized the peace efforts by Ehud Olmert and George W. Bush.[14] Siegman has described the process as a “scam” because of a “consensus reached long ago by Israel’s decision-making elites that Israel will never allow the emergence of a Palestinian state”.[15]
Reception
Jeffrey Donovan, writing in Radio Free Europe calls him "a leading U.S. expert on the Middle East."[16]
Nathan Guttman, writing in The Forward said that Siegman helped to publicize the "Saudi plan", after it was revealed publically for the first time in the New York Times.[17] In addition, Guttman writes that Siegman is in the "far-left corner of the Middle East worldview."[18]
Journalist David Rieff said, in 2004, that Siegman is "perhaps the most perceptive American observer-participant in the last two decades of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations."[19]
CAMERA (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America) has stated that Siegman's writings are full of "falsehoods that distort and denigrate", "hypocrisy and double standards", and that "an examination of his body of work reveals his analyses to be little more than thinly veiled propaganda promoting the Palestinian perspective on the conflict with Israel." One example includes an op-ed article in 2006 where Siegman states "since Israel’s disengagement from Gaza last year ... Palestinian civilians have been killed by Israeli artillery and airstrikes virtually on a daily basis." The Los Angeles Times, where it was published, issued a correction when it was pointed out to them that this was not the case, and in fact, was very infrequent.[20]
Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, said that Siegman was known as holding left-of-center views that fit with the American Jewish Congress’s liberal approach, and that "when he left the organization, it became clearer he was no longer a critic of Israel, that his criticism borders being anti-Israel."[21]
References
- ^ Henry Siegman Bio
- ^ Brief biography at the Euro|topics magazine.
- ^ Separating Spiritual and Political, He Pays a Price, by Chris Hedges, The New York Times, June 13, 2002.
- ^ Behind Henry Siegman's Turn on Israel
- ^ Separating Spiritual and Political, He Pays a Price
- ^ What will happen after Bush? by Itamar Rabinovich, Haaretz, October 29, 2007.
- ^ Is 'moral equivalency' really so wrong?
- ^ Hamas: The Last Chance for Peace? by Henry Siegman, The New York Review of Books, April 27, 2006.
- ^ The Hamas factor by Robert Malley and Henry Siegman, The International Herald Tribune, December 27, 2006.
- ^ Hamas and Gaza Emerge Reshaped After Takeover by Ethan Bronner, June 15, 2008.
- ^ Yasir Arafat, Father and Leader of Palestinian Nationalism, Dies at 75 by Judith Miller, The New York Times, November 11, 2004.
- ^ Sharon's Phony War by Henry Siegman, The New York Review of Books, December 18, 2003.
- ^ Hurricane Carter by Henry Siegman, The Nation, January 4, 2007.
- ^ The Great Middle East Peace Process Scam by Henry Siegman, The London Review of Books, 16 August 2007.
- ^ The Great Middle East Peace Process Scam Henry Siegman, London Review of Books, 16 August 2007
- ^ Middle East: Will Israel's Killing Of Hamas Leader Affect U.S. Policy? by Jeffrey Donovan, Radio Free Europe, March 23, 2004.
- ^ Saudis Push Bush Team On Peace Plan by Nathan Guttman, The Forward, January 19, 2007.
- ^ Behind Henry Siegman's Turn on Israel
- ^ Arafat Among the Ruins by David Rieff, The New York Times, April 25, 2004.
- ^ Henry Siegman's Expertise: Bashing Israel at Every Turn
- ^ Behind Henry Siegman's Turn on Israel