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Amazing example of religions’ dialogue and big success of Azerbaijani diplomacy in US

Politics Materials 17 December 2016 15:06 (UTC +04:00)
Journalists know, that one event can be presented from completely different angles, highlighting one part and leaving the other one out. Unfortunately, this is exactly what happened with coverage of an event hosted by the Azerbaijani embassy in the US jointly with the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
Amazing example of religions’ dialogue and big success of Azerbaijani diplomacy in US

Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 17

By Elmira Tariverdiyeva – Trend:

Journalists know, that one event can be presented from completely different angles, highlighting one part and leaving the other one out. Unfortunately, this is exactly what happened with coverage of an event hosted by the Azerbaijani embassy in the US jointly with the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

The Hanukkah celebration, held on Dec. 14 in the new Trump International Hotel in Washington, was a real celebration of religions’ friendship and an example of how one country can unite seemingly completely opposite poles of modern policy.

Aside from that, the event noted people, including Azerbaijanis, that played a major role in helping Israel fight the devastating forest fires last month, for which Tel Aviv is very grateful.

One of the most important moments of the event was the fact that thanks to Azerbaijan's participation, the celebration of the Jewish holiday was attended by Maen Rashid Areikat, a Palestinian diplomat and present chief of the Palestine Liberation Organization delegation in Washington DC.

This is an amazing example of mediation of Azerbaijan, which, being a Muslim country and a member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), evokes trust of Palestinians and simultaneously, has excellent relations with Israel.

Who else could've established a dialogue between the representatives of the Palestinian people and Israelis, if not Azerbaijan - the country known for its unique model of multiculturalism and tolerance, which is now used as the basis for state policy.

Along with that, having tight relations with Israel, to which testifies the successful visit of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to Baku on Dec. 13, Azerbaijan can play a bridging role between the Palestinian people and the Israelis. This is important from the standpoint of attempts to establish peace in volatile Middle East region.

However, instead of paying attention to this incredible process of beginning dialogue between the conflicting parties, many journalists unfortunately focused on a negligible episode - when several Jewish organizations in the US boycotted the Hanukkah celebration held in the hotel owned by the newly elected US President Donald Trump, as they don’t agree with this election.

By digging deeper, it becomes clear that most of the Jewish organizations that have "boycotted" the event, were not even invited to it. The thing is that these organizations have controversial reputation in the eyes of the Jewish lobby in the US, and thus weren't in the limited list of those invited to the event.

Some media outlets picked this up, and the raised noise may affect the relations between the US and Israel, as it was noted in the statement of Morton A. Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), published on the organization’s website.

The boycotting organizations owe Azerbaijan an apology, according to Klein.

“The Trump Administration may well be offended by the Jewish boycotters’ opposition to holding the Hanukkah event at a Trump Hotel. An apology to Trump is also in order,” noted ZOA president in his statement.

“The boycotting groups seem to care more about displaying their partisan anti-Trump animus than about the serious mistake of offending the next president of the United States, which would negatively impact their duty to promote strong US-Israel relations as promote relations with moderate Muslim countries like Azerbaijan,” added Klein.

He also noted that the boycotters’ complaints about the party’s location are also inappropriate. The Trump hotel was chosen due its proximity to the White House, the hotel’s ability to provide kosher food, and for the convenience of invitees who were also attending the White House Hanukkah party on the same day, added Klein.

The are also surprising lies, which, for some reason, was spread by some US journalists, about that the hosting side paid hundreds of thousands of dollar for the reception. This can be easily checked just by contacting the hotel's administration directly, and inquire about the price for the 200-person event, with kosher food. The sum doesn't exceed $12,000. And for US journalists this is a lot easier to check than for Azerbaijani journalists.

Apparently, someone needed a scandal, and success of Azerbaijan's diplomacy, including in such an important country as the US, don't give rest to representatives of some other diasporas.

Very few events organized by embassies of other countries can boast about being attended by a large number of diplomatic missions accredited in the US, which also says a lot about respect for Baku and the Embassy of Azerbaijan in particular.

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