Santa Cruz-area Jewish groups were irked recently when a Palestinian diplomat smeared Israel when being awarded a key to the city.
Afif Safieh, the Palestinian ambassador to the United States, had been given the ceremonial honor for his commitment to a nonviolent two-state solution. At the ceremony last month, however, he called Hezbollah “an amateur in terrorism compared to Israel.”
Mayor Cynthia Mathews, who nominated Safieh for the honor at the behest of a consortium of area organizations known as the Resource Center for Nonviolence, met in mid-August with members of the Santa Cruz Jewish community.
She offered to award the key to the city to any visiting Israeli government representative, a step that was seen as insufficient by several members of the Jewish coalition.
“I was disturbed that the ambassador was quoted … as saying that Hezbollah were minor terrorists compared to Israel while Hezbollah was launching thousands of rockets purposely against civilian targets in Israel,” Rabbi Rick Litvak of nearby Temple Beth El in Aptos told the Santa Cruz Sentinel. “With statements like this, I felt this was not the kind of person we should be honoring.”
Mathews has resisted entreaties from the Jewish community to make an apology. When asked if it was unfortunate that Safieh made his statement, she replied that “It’s unfortunate that the comments interfere with the end result” — a speech promoting a two-state solution.
Past recipients of Santa Cruz’s key to the city include historian Howard Zinn, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), political columnist Molly Ivins and singer Arlo Guthrie.