No DeLay: Gary Ackerman
It’s official: New York Rep. Gary Ackerman is now the chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Middle East. Judging from recent history, Ackerman will speak out strongly against any administration effor to pressure Israel; but, unlike Republican leaders in the last Congress, the New York Democrat is likely to support White House efforts to use U.S. assistance to boost the standing of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (see this article). When Tom DeLay moved in 2005 to block assistance to the P.A. (before Hamas took control), Ackerman told the Forward:
“If you want to ensure that there will not be a peace process, then you attach enough strings [to the aid package] that you strangle the process.”
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
