September, 19 2011, 11:13am EDT
Coalition of Organizations Asks Obama to Clarify Stand on Hiring Bias in 'Faith-Based' Initiative
President’s Recent Comments About Issue Have Sown Confusion, 56 Groups Say
WASHINGTON
Americans United for Separation of Church and State has joined a coalition of religious, education, civil rights, labor and health organizations in a letter to President Barack Obama expressing concern over his approach to hiring bias in the "faith-based" initiative.
The 56 groups decided to write after Obama discussed the issue during a town hall meeting in College Park, Md., July 22. They assert that his remarks have only served to cloud the issue.
"The question here is simple: Has the president changed his position on subsidizing religious discrimination with tax funds?" said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director. "If not, he should take action to restore civil rights protections in federally funded social services that were undercut during the Bush administration. Taxpayer dollars should never underwrite hiring bias."
During the July 22 event, Obama was asked why he did not ban religious discrimination in taxpayer-funded programs operated by religious agencies, as he promised to do when running for president in 2008.
Obama made the original pledge while campaigning in Zanesville, Ohio, on July 1, 2008. He told a crowd, "If you get a federal grant, you can't use that grant money to proselytize to the people you help and you can't discriminate against them - or against the people you hire - on the basis of their religion."
But after taking office, Obama failed to make this change, indicating instead that the Department of Justice would examine the issue. Nothing has happened since then.
"Your recent statement, combined with the Administration's failure to take any concrete steps thus far to restore anti-discrimination protections, causes us great disappointment," wrote the groups. "We write, therefore, to ask that you clarify your July 22 remarks and take steps to fulfill your commitment to end federally funded employment discrimination."
During the College Park town hall event, Obama opined that religious organizations have "more leeway" to "hire somebody who is a believer of that particular faith."
Observed the groups in the letter to Obama, "We hope that this statement does not reflect a reversal of your commitment to end federally funded religious discrimination."
The letter went on to list a number of instances where Obama could have curbed hiring bias in these programs but did not do so.
Asserted the letter, "Mr. President, we have been patiently waiting. If you have reversed your policy position on the issue of government-funded religious discrimination, we need to know that. If not, we would ask you to take concrete steps to fulfill the commitment you made in 2008 in Zanesville."
Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.
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Amnesty International on Thursday called for a war crimes investigation into recent Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon that killed dozens of civilians, as well as a suspension of arms transfers to Israel as it attacks Gaza, the West Bank, and Syria.
In a briefing paper titled The Sky Rained Missiles, Amnesty "documented four illustrative cases in which unlawful Israeli strikes killed at least 49 civilians" in Lebanon in September and October amid an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) campaign of invasion and bombardment that Lebanese officials say has killed or wounded more than 20,000 people.
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Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty's senior director for research, advocacy, policy, and campaigns, said in a statement that "these four attacks are emblematic of Israel's shocking disregard for civilian lives in Lebanon and their willingness to flout international law."
The September 29 attack "destroyed the house of the Syrian al-Shaar family, killing all nine members of the family who were sleeping inside," the report states.
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In the deadliest single strike detailed in the Amnesty report, IDF bombardment believed to be targeting a suspected Hezbollah member killed 23 civilians forcibly displaced from southern Lebanon in Aitou on October 14.
"The youngest casualty was Aline, a 5-month-old baby who was flung from the house into a pickup truck nearby and was found by rescue workers the day after the strike," Amnesty said.
Survivor Jinane Hijazi told Amnesty: "I've lost everything; my entire family, my parents, my siblings, my daughter. I wish I had died that day too."
As the report notes:
A fragment of the munition found at the site of the attack was analyzed by an Amnesty International weapons expert and based upon its size, shape, and the scalloped edges of the heavy metal casing, identified as most likely a MK-80 series aerial bomb, which would mean it was at least a 500-pound bomb. The United States is the primary supplier of these types of munitions to Israel.
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"Israel has an appalling track record of carrying out unlawful airstrikes in Gaza and past wars in Lebanon taking a devastating toll on civilians."
Last month, the court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with Israel's 433-day Gaza onslaught, which has left more than 162,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing in the embattled enclave.
The tribunal also issued a warrant for the arrest of Hamas leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri for alleged crimes committed during and after the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, in which more than 1,100 people were killed and over 240 others were kidnapped.
Meanwhile, the International Court of Justice is weighing a genocide case brought by South Africa against Israel. Last week, Amnesty published a report accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza.
The United States—which provides Israel with tens of billions of dollars in military aid and diplomatic cover—has also been accused of complicity in Israeli war crimes in Palestine and Lebanon.
"Israel has an appalling track record of carrying out unlawful airstrikes in Gaza and past wars in Lebanon taking a devastating toll on civilians," Guevara Rosas said. "The latest evidence of unlawful air strikes during Israel's most recent offensive in Lebanon underscores the urgent need for all states, especially the United States, to suspend arms transfers to Israel due to the risk they will be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law."
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