NEW YORK (JTA) – Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) urged the University of California Berkeley to rescind the “2012 Public Health Hero” award bestowed on Mary Robinson, citing her virulent anti-Israel bias.
Robinson, the former president of Ireland and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, presided over "an unprecedented international campaign delegitimizing Israel,” Sherman wrote earlier this month in a letter to UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau.
Sherman also said that Robinson blamed Israel for Palestinian violence during the second intifada, issued skewed reports on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and betrayed responsibilities expected of her as a High Commissioner.
“As a Representative from California, I believe that the University of California, Berkeley, a public institution with a global reputation of excellence and quality, should be upholding that reputation by honoring someone untainted by such a record of bias and animus against Israel. I urge you to reconsider the decision to give Mary Robinson your ‘Public Health Hero’ award,” Sherman concluded.
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