Zionist lobby not to blame for forcing gay Irish presidential candidate to withdraw

[financeguy]

Almost reads like an Onion headline doesn't it?

The Israeli embassy in Dublin have issued a statement stating that they were not involved in kiboshing the presidential ambitions of Irish senator David Norris.

The Israeli embassy in Dublin has said allegations that it was involved in the publication of a letter written by Senator David Norris to a court in Israel have “absolutely no foundation”.

It emerged at the weekend that Mr Norris wrote a letter in 1997 to the Israeli authorities pleading for clemency for his former partner Ezra Yitzhak Nawi who had been convicted of the statutory rape of a 15-year-old boy.

In a statement, the embassy rejected what it called “allegations made in the media by some Irish public figures”.

“No such letter was or is in the possession of the embassy; as in Ireland, the judicial system in democratic Israel is entirely separate from the Government and Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” the statement added.

It said successive ambassadors of Israel had enjoyed “a friendly, if combative and mutually critical, relationship with Senator David Norris over many years”.

“There is much admiration in Israel for Senator Norris’ work in Ireland in the cause of human rights and in particular for his endeavours for reform of the laws relating to homosexuality.”

The embassy said Israel “does not intervene in the democratic political contests of other states on behalf of, or against, particular candidates”.

Israeli embassy denies Norris intervention - The Irish Times - Tue, Aug 02, 2011


Norris, a senator and veteran human rights campaigner, has been credited with reforming Ireland's laws on homosexuality.

Norris had been favourite to win the election according to polls, until a pro-Israel blogger alighted on and publicised the information that, fourteen years ago, Norris had written a letter to an Israeli court pleading clemency for his then boyfriend, a left wing Israeli activist who had been convicted of unlawful sexual relations with a 15 year old Palestinian.

At that point the usual suspects decided it was a big Zionist conspiracy to interfere in another country's affairs, presaging the issue of the statement.

 

[yolland]

I thought all the blogger reported was that Nawi had been convicted of sex with a (Palestinian male) minor? Which was already readily available information through Israeli media, for example this 2009 article (from the English edition of Ha'aretz) refers in passing to it, and anyone who reads Hebrew could find plenty more online; Nawi is a fairly well-known activist in Israel. The article I saw about Norris ending his campaign--which I think was in the (Irish) Independent? or whichever paper it was that published the letters--seemed to be saying that Norris himself shared the letters with that paper after the blogger 'revealed' Nawi's conviction (granted, that could've been because of a tipoff that someone else had the letters and was about to leak them, I suppose; are politicians' clemency letters public record in Ireland?).

Sad story in a historic sense...I gather whether this should've ended Norris' campaign is a somewhat controversial topic in Ireland, though given the backdrop of the pedophile-priests scandals, it seems hard to imagine he could've kept on after the revelation of a connection like that.

 

[financeguy]

I thought all the blogger reported was that Nawi had been convicted of sex with a (Palestinian male) minor? Which was already readily available information through Israeli media, for example this 2009 article (from the English edition of Ha'aretz) refers in passing to it, and anyone who reads Hebrew could find plenty more online; Nawi is a fairly well-known activist in Israel. The article I saw about Norris ending his campaign--which I think was in the (Irish) Independent? or whichever paper it was that published the letters--seemed to be saying that Norris himself shared the letters with that paper after the blogger 'revealed' Nawi's conviction (granted, that could've been because of a tipoff that someone else had the letters and was about to leak them, I suppose; are politicians' clemency letters public record in Ireland?)

Actually, you're right, the blogger is acknowledging only publicising the fact of the conviction but not the letters Norris sent.

 

[financeguy]

Senator David Norris On The Late Late Show 16/09/2011 - YouTube