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Friday, February 28, 2014

After my two posts expressing concern over Shaun Casey, the head of the State Department's Office of Faith-Based Community Initiatives, and his silent visit to the West Bank with some viciously anti-Israel (and antisemitic) Christian leaders, I asked Matthew Lee of AP if he would ask the State Department about what happened on this trip. (Lee is well known for his relentless questioning of State Department officials. )

He kindly agreed and submitted the questions yesterday. Here was the exchange that happened at today's press briefing:

QUESTION: Okay. So then, on the meetings that Mr. Casey had --
MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.
QUESTION: -- with the religious leaders, including some that are allegedly anti-Israel, can you – what do you have to say about that?
MS. PSAKI: Sure. Well, during his recent trip to the region, Special Advisor Shaun Casey met with a wide range of religious leaders, from the Jewish, Muslim, and Christian faiths. So this is – part of the context here is, of course, very important.
QUESTION: Okay, wait. Just before you go on, he did not just meet with Palestinian and Christian leaders? He met with all members of all their different faiths?
MS. PSAKI: Correct. Exactly.
QUESTION: Or leaders of all --
MS. PSAKI: Exactly.
QUESTION: Okay.
MS. PSAKI: And this was, of course, part of our ongoing outreach to religious communities vis-a-vis the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. He also met with local interfaith organizations and international faith-based development groups, and he hopes to continue to engage on an even more diverse range of religious voices in future visits. As you know, this is kind of a newer position and he just came to the State Department a couple of months ago, so this serves an interesting utility in terms of reaching out to faith groups around these important policy issues.
QUESTION: And what do you think of the concerns expressed by some in Israel that he met – that he was giving credibility, credence to anti-Israel figures?
MS. PSAKI: Well, I think I would point to the fact that he met with a very broad range of officials from across the faith spectrum. And it’s important to us, it’s important to Mr. Casey, to hear from a range of officials, to have a dialogue with them. And that was the pure purpose of his engagement.
QUESTION: Right. Well, there was one specific meeting that caused some extra concern. Do you – can you say anything about that?
MS. PSAKI: I don’t have anything more to say about it.
QUESTION: All right. 
My very simple question is - what Jewish (and Muslim) leaders did he meet? No one seems to know.




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Posted By Elder of Ziyon to Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News at 2/28/2014 05:00:00 AM

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