Nadene Goldfoot
Sarah Margon is an American political advisor who is the nominee to serve as Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor in the Biden administration. The Trump Administration had not attended in 2018.
Margon began her career as a humanitarian and conflict policy advisor for Oxfam. She later worked as a staffer on the United States Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy and as a foreign policy advisor to Senator Russ Feingold. She later worked as the associate director for sustainable security and peace-building at the Center for American Progress and deputy Washington director of Human Rights Watch. Margon has most recently worked as a U.S. foreign policy advisor for the Open Society Foundations.
What in an Open Society? Open Society Foundations, formerly the Open Society Institute, is a grantmaking network founded by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially support civil society groups around the world, with a stated aim of advancing justice, education, public health and independent media. These are all great aims, but George Soros is questionable, especially to many American Jews who question his values. Though George is also Jewish, his experiences in the Holocaust have turned him and his feelings towards something not understandable, something that doesn't value Israel like many of us do. He seems to have other ideas. So when his name comes up, it's like a red flag waving madly in the breeze. First thought is, how much is this going to become anti-Israel?(2)
As with regular ambassadorial posts, nominations are made by the President of the United States and confirmation by the United States Senate is required.
The Trump administration had warned that the U.S. might leave the U.N. Human Rights Council, arguing that it displays anti-Israel bias and ignores violations by certain countries. This was reported June 6, 2017. (5)
Commentary on people holding the post has often been linked with perceptions that the Commission on Human Rights was anti-U.S. and especially anti-Israel. The United States was voted off the commission for a period beginning in 2001. Later, the United States withdrew from the council in 2018.
"At the 46th Session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), February 22 – March 23, the United States actively reengaged with the Council after a two-and-a-half-year absence and announced its candidacy for a member seat for the 2022-2024 term.
With introspection about the United States’ own human rights struggles, particularly in addressing systemic racism, we galvanized more than 155 members of the international community to join us in acknowledging the corrosive legacy of racism and racial discrimination and to proactively address this shameful legacy to make lasting progress.
During HRC 46, the United States helped advance responses to dire human rights situations through resolutions, joint statements, and interventions including on: Belarus, Burma, Burundi, Egypt, Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, North Korea, Russia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Venezuela, South Sudan, and Yemen." (4) They have 14 states to work on, which should keep Israel out of the conversations.
Such meetings were first attended by Eleanor Roosevelt. Let's hope Human Rights actually sticks to their agenda and doesn't try to beat up Israel who has rarely been treated humanely by countries but who sponsors the Golden Rule of "What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow:", first said by Hillel, a rabbi of 1st century BCE.
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ambassadors_of_the_United_States_to_the_United_Nations_Human_Rights_Council
2.https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Margon
4. https://www.state.gov/key-outcomes-at-the-46th-session-of-the-un-human-rights-council/
5. https://www.cpr.org/2017/06/06/trump-administration-warns-that-u-s-may-pull-out-of-u-n-human-rights-council/
it matters like never before...
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