Balanced? Historical whitewashing is balanced? From the Evening Sun of Hanover, PA, with thanks to The Informed Christian:
The Junior League secured the American-born fourth wife of the late King Hussein to help celebrate its 75th anniversary as the guest speaker at 7 p.m. May 4 at the Strand-Capitol Performing Arts Center.
“She is timely because of the Middle East situation,” said Angelina Giuffrida, chair of the speakers’ series. “She and her husband always stood for peace. She is an exemplary role model for women.”…
Queen Noor knows of the Junior League’s interests. She will speak on her choice of topics, Benedict said.
And that’s what worries Barry Morrison, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League in Philadelphia.
“She is totally immersed in the anti-Israel myths of the Middle East,” Morrison said. “She shows a very narrow, limited understanding of the history of the conflict between the Jews and Palestinians.”
He said her views are divorced from reality.
The Junior League has a right to invite Queen Noor and provide her with a platform, Morrison said. He is concerned about what she chooses to speak about.
In a 2000 speech at the Medical Aid for Palestinians Fundraising Dinner, Queen Noor spoke of the brutal, barbaric Israeli aggressors who massacred Palestinian refugees in 1982 at Sabra and Shatilla. She closed her speech with, “Enshallah, God willing, the next time we meet we will be celebrating our victories, the victories of the Palestinian people.”
For the truth on Sabra and Shatilla, see here.
In her 2003 book, “Leap of Faith: Memoirs of an Unexpected Life,” Queen Noor states that Jews, Muslims and Christians lived peacefully in the Middle East for centuries before the rise of Zionism and the creation of Israel.
That just isn’t true, Morrison said. No church or synagogue in the Middle East can be taller than a mosque because the Christian and Jewish religions are considered lesser than Islam, he said.
“The views she espouses are troubling to us,” Morrison said. “We are concerned about what her message is in York.”
Giuffrida was aware of Noor’s bias. But, she said, Noor speaks from her perspective, and also criticized Arafat’s conduct in Palestine.
“I found her to be balanced,” Giuffrida said.