Univ. of Cal. Backs Down from 'No Jews Allowed' Program [State Dept. sponsored]

Arutz Sheva ^ | 9-27-07 | Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

[SJackson]

Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

(IsraelNN.com) A U.S. State Department-funded University of California program which provides business training for residents of the Middle East specifically excluded Israeli Jews - until Jewish journalists protested.

The University of California has now altered the program's eligibility requirement that initially barred Israeli Jews. The turnaround in policy also may have saved the State Department, whose Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) finances the program, from having to provide an embarrassing explanation. MEPI also selects the participants.

 
Jerusalem-based marketing specialist and businesswoman Miriam Schwab uncovered the bias last week when she checked into applying to the university's San Diego branch Beyster Institute program for Middle East Entrepreneur Training (MEET). She discovered that the program was open to citizens of "Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Israel (limited to Israeli Arab citizens), Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, West Bank/Gaza and Yemen."

The Beyster Institute, which manages the program, offers three 10-day seminars, each one with 20 eligible participants. The program includes professional coaching and offers opportunities to make new contacts and "to help promising leaders realize their aspirations to build successful [businesses]... The participation of women is highly encouraged."

The Canadian-born Schwab, who moved to Israel 10 years ago, said she was interested in the program because she employs two women in her Illuminea company in Jerusalem. "This program sounded really interesting until I got to the part about eligibility for application," she wrote on an e-mail list.

The MEET program ostensibly "does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, age, religion, national origin, or handicap."

In response to an IsraelNationalNews.com question for confirmation of the restriction in Israel, program manager Mona Yousry verified, "It is only for Arab Israelis." A subsequent question as to why Israeli Jews are not eligible for the program elicited the following reply from the Institute's Director of Entrepreneurial Programs, Rob Fuller: "I’m sorry for the unfortunate misunderstanding about eligibility for the new MEET program. To be clear, for the programs for which we are now recruiting to be held in 2008, ALL Israeli citizens are eligible to participate. Sorry for any confusion we may have inadvertently caused."

Israeli Jews originally were excluded despite the program’s stated advantage as "an important cultural exchange." Fuller did not explain the initial "confusion" in barring Israeli Jews.

The programs are to be held in Jordan, Egypt and Morocco, all of which have relations with Israel.

Following the e-mail complaints to Beyster, the US Embassy of Yemen online document which announces the program was down for more than a day until the words "limited to Israeli Arab citizens" were deleted. [View the document announcing the program by clicking here. When prompted with "Do you want to open or save this file," click on "Open."]

The US official who made the online edit, however, reposted the story in "track changes" format so that the document displays in the left margin, at the time of this writing, the words: "Deleted: Limited to Israeli Arab citizens." (See pics below).

The US Embassy document was reposted with the words: "Deleted: Limited to Israeli Arab citizens."

 

The full page US Embassy online document announcing the program

 

 

[upchuck]

The State Department is a viper pit filled with left-wing morons.

W should have cleaned it out in 2000. Hope FRed will.

[Diogenesis]

I'm shocked. Shocked, I tell you, shocked.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

More DOS foolishness.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

Dang, I just checked the original DOS document provided by the link, and so help me the track change notation is still there. What idiots!

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

Here's the link:

http://yemen.usembassy.gov/yemen/img/assets/12080/MEET%20U%20S%20%20Announcement_2006%20English.doc

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

High Volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel. or WOT [War on Terror]

----------------------------

[RoseofTexas]

The State Department is a viper pit filled with left-wing morons

Funny how the Streisand's and Spielberg's of America STILL vote overwhelmingly for RATS! Satan sure has them fooled!

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

Interesting. In looking at the original MS Word document at the link, when I place my cursor over the Track Change notation, a "balloon" pops up and reads:

mbedrouni, 9/19/2005 1:06:00 PM
deleted: (limited to Israeli Arab citizens)

So it looks like the limitation's mini-clause was actually removed on September 19, 2005, eleven days before the application due date of September 30 for that year. But no one got the word until now. That's the source of the confusion it appears.

Still, it was stupid to exclude Israeli Jews in the first place.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

Or maybe, Mr. mbedrouni changed the year on his computer’s Control Panel’s ‘Date and Time’ function to make it look like the track change occurred two years ago instead of last week.,p>
Hmmmmmm....

[radiohead]

Oh my goodness, I just checked and you’re right, the track changes is still there. How stupid can you get?

[NonValueAdded]

How stupid can you get?

or patriotic. Someone in the striped pants set didn't want the original sin to go down the memory hole. They may pay a high price for that, but I thank them for exposing the hypocrisy. And if it was inadvertent, cue the Simpsons ha-ha kid.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

or patriotic.

I'm not that optimistic about anything coming from DOS. Also 'mbedrouni' is a suspiciously Arabic-sounding name.

[Kevmo]

Good catch.

[Kevmo]

Here’s a little tidbit that might be suitable for your middle-east ping list.

[radiohead]

or patriotic.
I'm not that optimistic about anything coming from DOS.

I'm w/you, VR. I doubt anyone at DOS had enough brain cells firing to do something like this as a subversive patriotic action.

[NonValueAdded]

Au contraire, to use the favorite language of the dips ... we have The Diplomad OMG ... I checked the link before posting this ... s/he's back!!! ... check it out, the most righteous thing to come out of the DOS in a generation. The tsunami reporting was epic and that's what I thought I was pointing you at. I can't wait to read the new stuff.

[familyop]

"The State Department is a viper pit filled with left-wing morons"

Well, that's what we get for electing a Democrat Administration in 2000 and 2004, eh?

"Funny how the Streisand's and Spielberg's of America STILL vote overwhelmingly for RATS! Satan sure has them fooled!"

Yes, our fellow Republicans are so different from Democrats in regards to Israel.

American Jews stand by Israel
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1678564/posts

What the British Jews think of Israel's war
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1678566/posts

Most Americans Support Right of Jews to Live and Build in Judea-Samaria
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/927783/posts
June 10, 2003
"By a margin of nearly five to one, Americans oppose the Bush administration's demand to halt all further Jewish construction in Judea-Samaria (the West Bank) and Gaza . . . The poll, carried out by John McLaughlin & Associates, surveyed a scientific sample of 1,000 American adults on May 21, 2003.

..."nearly five to one." It appears that there is a disconnect between our populace and all of our political parties.