Madam, – I am a Jew and a human rights lawyer and a friend of Israel. I have known Mary Robinson for more than 30 years. Before she became president she had links with my Chambers and was an adviser to Interights (the International Centre for the Legal Protection of Human Rights).
Mrs Robinson fully deserves the medal of freedom which President Barack Obama is awarding her for her work for human rights across the world. To accuse her of having a bias against Israel or of failing to prevent anti-Semitic statements at the Durban anti-racism summit is ludicrous (World News, August 6th).
It does not harm Mrs Robinson’s outstanding reputation but it certainly diminishes the credibility of AIPAC (the American Public Affairs Committee) and its allies who do indeed suffer from institutional bias.
Any fair-minded observer of the tragic situation in the Middle East would surely agree that there have been gross human rights violations both by Israel and by its enemies.
The best hope for the future is to recognise that human rights are universal and that Palestinians and Israelis have equal rights. That is what Mrs Robinson stands for, and I pay tribute to her courage and pursuit of justice. – Yours, etc,