This week, a very low profile announcement was made that the Elie Weisel Foundation is awarding it's Human Rights Award to Nicolas Sarkozy on the 22nd of November in New York City.
The award, along with conferring the illusion that the honoree has been instrumental in forwarding the struggle for Human Rights, also brings the recipient a $150,000 bonus.
I would be very curious to know what Mr. Sarkozy has specifically done to merit this honor.
He has advanced the cause of DNA Testing to determine nationality. An idea that was shot down, but went a long way to gather him favor with the Far Right Front National.
His policies have resulted in the deportation of thousands of people with improper documentation from France. His policies have separated families and allowed children to be held in detention centers after they were pulled out of school.
These policies have been almost exclusively aimed at minorities.
The response in France is almost like a resistance movement which has resulted in an underground network to protect these families to keep his policies from tearing them apart.
He openly expresses his admiration and friendship for his very fascist fellow leader, Silvio Berlesconi of Italy, who is following the same racist anti immigration policies except, the Italian fascists are actually violently persecuting minorities whether they are in the country legaly or not!
He wants to use his current term as president of the European Union to push an agenda of harsh anti immigration laws that would be binding in all EU Countries.
(We can only thank the Irish for putting the damper on his term by their rejection of the Treaty of Lisbon!)
He is doing business with dictators all over the Middle East and Africa.
I think that awarding him this honor cheapens and devalues the meaning of it.
It reduces it to just another piece of bling bling to adorn the ego of a vain and cruel man.
Is this simply a reward for pandering to the Israeli Lobby? Just a benefit of social connections? Is that all it takes to be a Champion of Human Rights?
3 comments:
I have heard this too. Who made this announcement? Where can it be found?
Isn't it the 22 of September?
I think you are right about the date, my mistake and I will correct it in my next post on this subject.
I first heard of this in the French Weekly Political Journal, Le Canarde Enchaine.
I subsequently searched Google and found many references to it.
There was a good piece in the Journal , Marianne.
There were many references to the relationship between Sarkozy and Weisel including quite a few articles regarding the presence of Weisel at Sarko's ex wife Celie's remarriage in New York.
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