Letter
The following letter has been received from Lord Patten of Barnes, Chancellor of Oxford University. I reproduce it here in its entirety.
From: The Rt Hon Lord Patten of Barnes C.H.
Dear Sir,
Your article, “Carpe diem -- or can we all relax now?” by Melanie Phillips (26 November 2008), repeats a number of patently false assertions about Robert Malley that are currently blighting the more dubious corners of the internet and do not belong in a respected publication.
Mr Malley did not work for the Obama campaign, nor is he working for the transition team. He did not travel anywhere for Obama, neither before nor after the election. His work on the Middle East in recent years has been in his role as the Middle East and North Africa Programme Director of the International Crisis Group, where I am currently co-chairman.
Ms Phillips uses a quote from a US publication, but neither she nor the original author bothered to check the veracity of that statement with Mr Malley or the International Crisis Group. In fact, no “aide” of Mr Malley could have told anyone anything, as Mr Malley has no aides.
A simple phone call to the International Crisis Group when writing the article would have cleared up all of these points, but your author apparently found it easier simply to copy-and-paste a libellous statement from an American web page.
Ms Phillips’ blunt assertions that Mr Malley is somehow anti-Israel also represent a completely unwarranted attack given his dedicated efforts to achieve Middle East peace over the years. What is more, these types of spurious accusations have been publicly addressed -- and completely undermined -- by a March 2008 letter in The New York Review of Books from a group of other US heavyweights in Arab-Israeli affairs: Samuel (Sandy) Berger, Former National Security Adviser; Ambassador Martin Indyk, Former Ambassador to Israel and Egypt and Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs; Ambassador Daniel C. Kurtzer, Former Ambassador to Israel; Aaron David Miller, Former Senior Adviser for Arab–Israeli Negotiations, Department of State; Ambassador Dennis Ross, Former Special Envoy of the President to the Middle East.
Their unequivocal defence of Mr Malley included these words, well worth repeating: “[The claims are that Robert Malley] harbors an anti-Israeli agenda and has sought to undermine Israel’s security. These attacks are unfair, inappropriate, and wrong. They are an effort to undermine the credibility of a talented public servant who has worked tirelessly over the years to promote Arab-Israeli peace and US national interests. They must stop.”
To read that letter in full, see: http://www.nybooks.com/articles/21170
The Spectator article has sullied the reputation of one of the most committed analysts and peace advocates in the field of Middle East affairs today. It is unworthy of your pages, and I believe an immediate apology and correction are in order.
Yours sincerely,
Patten of Barnes
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Melanie Phillips is a Daily Mail columnist. She also writes for the Jewish Chronicle and is a panellist on BBC Radio Four's Moral Maze. Her most recent book is 'Londonistan', published by Encounter and Gibson Square.
For a complete set of Melanie's articles click here
Melanie Phillips blog archive
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Koestler
December 2nd, 2008 4:44pmIs that it? Doesn't this kind of thing call for a response Ms Phillips - be it a rebuttal or an apology? Look forward to seeing one or the other.
Frank P
December 2nd, 2008 5:54pmDoes this help in deciding what's going on here?
http://www.frontpagemag.com/GoPostal/commentdetail.aspx?GUID=376a8a3b-62dd-407f-8d48-f38b2a63b96e&commentID=a997bce5-6349-4e4b-9527-e45b9b025132
Is there a patten of events emerging here? Seems a real jar of worms to me and Fat Pang interceding doesn't make it stop wriggling. But then I'm just a nasty suspicious old grump who believes that only time will tell - and even time keeps shtum more often than not when it's convenient for politicians to do their dirty deeds.
FinanceDoc
December 2nd, 2008 7:11pmCensor: I would appreciate if you would release my post on this challenge by Chris Patten.
Dixon
December 2nd, 2008 7:55pmAnyone who is endorsed by Sandy Berger...the man who refused to order the killing of Osama Bin Laden one night during the Clinton years...is quite certainly not going to be a friend of Israel.
Indeed, I would have thought the endorsement of that Patten fellow is itself something of a damning indication of the leanings of the man in question.
hadrian
December 2nd, 2008 9:24pmPatten's instincts( this IS John Patten we're taliking about?) are and always have been erroneous. He is a secular humanist at heart and as such unreliable. Wonder if he shares his fellow religionist, Blair's vision for the Middle East?
Joe Camel
December 2nd, 2008 11:05pmHadrian, there were two Conservative MPs both called Patten. No idea whether there was any family connection. Melanie's letter writer is Chris Patten, mainly remembered as the last governor of Hong Kong whose job it was to hand it over to China.
One of the names Patten quotes in his letter is Daniel Kurtzer, who is now said to be awaiting confirmation as Obama's presidential special envoy to the Middle East. The "presidential" means that Kurtzer would be reporting directly to Obama, bypassing Hillary Clinton and the State Department. In Israel (where he was U.S. ambassador) he is remembered for his advocacy of a particularly tough version of the two-state solution, with the 1967 border to be left virtually unchanged, East Jerusalem to be ceded as the Palestinian capital, and all settlers to be forcibly removed from the West Bank as they were earlier removed from the Gaza Strip by Ariel Sharon.
Tom
December 3rd, 2008 9:43amWhy hasn't Melanie explained if the criticisms are valid?
Carla
December 3rd, 2008 10:43amTom, Melanie's post is still there - she's standing by what she's written.
Tom
December 3rd, 2008 11:01amAm I alone in thinking more is needed?
BFree
December 3rd, 2008 1:14pmThere must be a fault with my PC, as I couldn't find this article on the main website but had to do a search.
Ms. Phillips defenders won't be able to support her if blogs are removed.
Joe Camel
December 3rd, 2008 1:42pmBFree, try this:
http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/3039656/carpe-diem-or-can-we-all-relax-now.thtml
It's on page 2 at the moment
Frank P
December 3rd, 2008 1:51pmIf Patten of Sarf 'ammersmiff & Norf Wandswuff wanted to challenge Melanie's assertions, why didn't he have the cojone's to log on to the commentariat box and make his points in open debate, so that his challenges could be themselves put to the test. Instead, he employs his political muscle (flabby though it is these days) and pressurises the editors of this magazine to publish his 'letter' with all its appendages of state and self-serving accolades.
Some of us have greater regard for Melanie's long fight on behalf of this nation, its culture and its traditions and the interests of its closest ally in the Middle East – Israel - than those of a man who handed Hong Long back to China on a plate and ripped the guts out of the RUC.
You've got your sinecures and pensions, Pang. Now butt out! The NWO will not necessarily be what you and your fat - and lean & hungry - friends decide. You might be able to put the arm on the management here through your academic and parliamentary privileges and connections, but another version of 'the truth' will circulate regardless of your veiled threats and crappy credentials.
Melanie's efforts to defend our culture and our true allies in the world are worth many hundred times you own self-serving wheeling and dealing from within the political enclaves around the globe. Hers is an opinion I value above yours and I happen to subscribe to this magazine, too. Do you? Or do you get a free copy laid beside you on the red benches at our expense? Or do you just have your attention drawn to pieces that are known not to suit your agenda?
One of the reasons that this is a 'respected publication' (even within those 'blighted corners of the internet') is that it gives a platform to Melanie Phillips. The way things are going in the Westminster Gasworks, such blogs will soon be the only oases of free speech, debate and yes - democracy. You have your opinion she has hers. Her track record for telling it the way it is speaks for itself. Does yours?
stanley Jerusalem
December 3rd, 2008 2:32pmAll that we lack to support Patten now is a letter from Mellor.
Carla
December 3rd, 2008 4:04pmstanley, Jerusalem, that'll be the day.
stanley Jerusalem
December 3rd, 2008 5:22pmCarla, what was the name of the lady [toes]?