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| By: Associated Press |
| Published: August 31, 2006 |
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Jewish leaders in Santa Cruz asked the mayor to apologize for giving a ceremonial city key to the Palestinian ambassador after the visiting leader called Lebanon's Hezbollah "an amateur in terrorism compared to Israel."
But Mayor Cynthia Mathews defended the symbolic gesture of welcome and respect as an appropriate show of support for Ambassador Afif Safieh's efforts to promote peace in the Middle East. She said she would do the same if an Israeli official came to Santa Cruz.
"I acted on Safieh's work to encourage communication and peaceful resolution to the conflict, which is something I think we would all like to see," Mathews said Tuesday, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported.
Five local Jewish leaders met with the mayor earlier this month after Safieh made the Hezbollah-Israel comparison during remarks at an event sponsored by the Resource Center for Nonviolence. Mathews introduced the ambassador and handed him the city key during the appearance.
"With statements like this, I felt this was not the kind of person we should be honoring," said Rabbi Rick Litvak of Temple Beth El.
In the past decade, Santa Cruz mayors also have awarded city keys to such VIPs as spiritual leader Ram Dass, filmmaker Michael Moore, folk singer Arlo Guthrie and Lex van den Berghe, a local reality TV star. |
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