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Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, September-October 2008, pages 64-65 Waging Peace Dr. Jeremy Brigham Discusses “Forty-One Vetoes” in Iowa City
SPEAKING AT the Iowa City Public Library on July 8, Dr. Jeremy Brigham addressed an audience of about 45 people on the topic, “Forty-One Vetoes: The United States Role at the United Nations Security Council Regarding Israel/Palestine.” Brigham, adjunct assistant professor in international programs at the University of Iowa and adjunct instructor in human geography and culture with a focus on the Middle East at Kirkwood Community College, wove the story of his own experience in the Middle East and the political backdrop of the conflict into his comprehensive overview of the 41 vetoes cast by the United States between 1972 and the present to prevent criticism of Israel. “I had the opportunity to go with a group of 11 Unitarian Universalist ministers and lay people to Israel,” recalled Brigham, who, in addition to his academic work is a part time Unitarian Universalist minister in Clinton, IA. “We met with Israeli officials, Palestinian officials, American officials, and Jordanian officials including King Hussein of Jordan while we were there.” Brigham’s elucidation of the historical context of the 41 U.S. vetoes of resolutions critical of Israeli crimes and excesses in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and the surrounding region was worthy of a graduate seminar in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the long struggle for Palestinian self-determination. After noting that in its many vetoes of Security Council resolutions critical of Israel the U.S. has nearly always stood alone, Brigham concluded with a rhetorical question, “Can the United States take a different stance in regard to the Security Council in this new era that is about to come upon us?” The event was sponsored by People for Justice in Palestine, an Iowa City community organization concerned about the crisis in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. —Michael Gillespie |
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