Report : State Dept. Had A Holocaust Remembrance Day Statement That Mentioned Jews But White House Blocked It's Release
White House nixed Holocaust statement naming Jews
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/white-house-holocaust-jews-234572
The State Department drafted its own statement last month marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day that explicitly included a mention of Jewish victims, according to people familiar with the matter, but President Donald Trump’s White House blocked its release.
The existence of the draft statement adds another dimension to the controversy around the White House’s own statement that was released on Friday and set off a furor because it excluded any mention of Jews. The White House has stood by the statement, defending it as an “inclusive” message that was not intended to marginalize Jewish victims of the Holocaust.
According to three people familiar with the process, the State Department's Office of the Special Envoy on Holocaust Issues prepared its own statement for International Holocaust Remembrance Day that, like previous statements, commemorated Jewish victims.
Instead, the White House’s own statement drew widespread criticism for overlooking the Jews' suffering, and was cheered by neo-Nazi website the Daily Stormer.
A White House official said there was no ill intent, adding that the White House didn’t see State’s draft until after issuing its own statement and told State not to release its version because it came after 7 p.m. And the official said the White House didn't ask the State Department to craft their own statement.
Officials at the State Department, however, believed the statement was being drafted for the White House to use, people familiar with the matter said.
An official with the Office of the Special Envoy on Holocaust Issues referred a request for comment to the State Department's spokeswoman, who referred the request to the White House.
The White House’s explanations for omitting Jews in its statement haven’t quelled the controversy and in some cases made it worse. Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks originally defended the omission to CNN saying, “we are an incredibly inclusive group and we took into account all of those who suffered.” Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said he didn’t regret the wording.
"Everyone's suffering in the Holocaust, including obviously all of the Jewish people affected and the miserable genocide that occurred is something that we consider to be extraordinarily sad and something that can never be forgotten,” Priebus said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Monday accused critics of “nitpicking” over the statement. He said it was written “with the help of an individual who is both Jewish and the descendent of Holocaust survivors.” A source with knowledge of the situation told POLITICO that person was Trump aide Boris Epshteyn.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) likened Trump’s statement to Holocaust denial . The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum implicitly rebuked the White House on Monday, saying, “Millions of other innocent civilians were persecuted and murdered by the Nazis, but the elimination of Jews was central to Nazi policy.”
The Republican Jewish Coalition and the Zionist Organization of America, both funded by influential donor Sheldon Adelson, each also scolded the White House for its Holocaust message.
"The lack of a direct statement about the suffering of the Jewish people during the Holocaust was an unfortunate omission. History unambiguously shows the purpose of the Nazi's final solution was the extermination of the Jews of Europe,” the Republican Jewish Coalition’s Fred Brown said in the statement. “We hope, going forward, he conveys those feelings when speaking about the Holocaust."
“Especially as a child of Holocaust survivors, I and ZOA are compelled to express our chagrin and deep pain at President Trump, in his Holocaust Remembrance Day Message, omitting any mention of anti-Semitism and the six million Jews who were targeted and murdered by the German Nazi regime and others,” the ZOA’s Mort Klein said.
The United Nations designated Jan. 27 International Holocaust Remembrance Day to mark the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp.
In 2015, Secretary of State John Kerry issued an extensive statement on the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau that remembered "the six million Jews and the millions more murdered by the Nazis – including Poles, Roma, LGBT people, persons with disabilities.” Two years earlier, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a statement that did not explicitly name Jews but forcefully warned against Holocaust denial.
"It is our obligation to stay true to our values and maintain constant vigilance,” she said . "We must never forget that when the checks and balances in government and society that protect fundamental freedoms are lost, the result can be massive atrocities. The United States is committed to a world in which the lessons of the Holocaust are taught and that all human rights are valued so that this will never happen again.”
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I wish one of the white house reporters would put this in a direct confrontational way to Sean Spicer, so we can cut through the bs.
Dear Friend John Russell: First of all, Happy 2017 to you and yours.
Next, yes it would be refreshing to have the Press Corps cut through the B.S.
That is their job.
That part of the First Amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing Freedom of the Press isn't there to assist them in the ratings wars.
The Founding Fathers wouldn't have cared.
Neither should they, or us.
The lack of credibility of the media stems as much from what they do not report or ask, as what they do and why.
As a Democratic Republic, we as citizens need to be informed of things upon which we can vote to insure our liberties and the business of the people (ah the greater good, remember that) can be preserved and developed.
None of this has anything to do with ratings,. advertising, or staying on the good side of bully's just to scoop the media competition.
Good articel John.
Better point in your initial comment;.
Well done.
Enoch.
Thank you Enoch. I think it will take a lot to get the plain truth out of the Trump White House though. The CBS White House correspondent Major Garrett was on the air with a report a little while ago. He felt compelled to say that he has never seen a white house that gets so many things wrong, and accused the white house and the president himself of spreading falsehoods. Amazing stuff.
FYI for those who felt my indignation was because I was an indie:
The Republican Jewish Coalition and the Zionist Organization of America, both funded by influential donor Sheldon Adelson, each also scolded the White House for its Holocaust message.
"The lack of a direct statement about the suffering of the Jewish people during the Holocaust was an unfortunate omission. History unambiguously shows the purpose of the Nazi's final solution was the extermination of the Jews of Europe,” the Republican Jewish Coalition’s Fred Brown said in the statement. “We hope, going forward, he conveys those feelings when speaking about the Holocaust."
“Especially as a child of Holocaust survivors, I and ZOA are compelled to express our chagrin and deep pain at President Trump, in his Holocaust Remembrance Day Message, omitting any mention of anti-Semitism and the six million Jews who were targeted and murdered by the German Nazi regime and others,” the ZOA’s Mort Klein said.
I think there is something actually sinister going on behind the scenes and behind the facade of this white house.
"Prominent white nationalist Richard Spencer lauded President Donald Trump's statement commemorating International Holocaust Memorial Day that failed to mention Jews as a “de-Judification” of the Holocaust.
"President Trump’s press release was as seemingly banal as any other," Spencer wrote in a post on his website. "But the kvetching came quickly."
He complained that the Holocaust has become a standard rhetorical device in liberal "hyper-morality."
"We can’t limit immigration, because Hitler . We can’t can’t be proud of ourselves as a Europeans, because Holocaust . White people can be Christian, but not too Christian, because Auschwitz ," Spencer wrote.
The Trump administration's statement mentioned the “victims, survivors, heroes” of the Holocaust and “the innocent," but broke from bipartisan tradition by failing to specifically mention Jews.
Spencer called the White House statement "especially Trumpian" for its "de-Judification" of the Holocaust. He argued that was "utterly defensible," going on to claim it is "unimaginable for Jewish activists" to see the Holocaust, during which 6 million Jews were killed by the Nazis, treated as "just another genocide.""
Look at what Spencer says and match it up to what the Trump white house did. It is troubling.
Since whatever I post that is pro-Jewish or pro-Israel is attacked by a few NT members, I post no comment, but by now you should know what I'm thinking.
Buzz,
Any personal attacks on you will be deleted.