FOX

Georgia Congresswoman Draws Flak for Letter to Prince

WASHINGTON — A Georgia congresswoman is facing criticism for sending a letter to a Saudi prince apologizing for New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's refusal to accept the prince's $10 million check for terrorism victims.

Sen. Zell Miller, D-Ga., called his colleague's letter "disgraceful."

Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga., wrote to Prince Alwaleed bin Talal on Friday to thank him for his contribution and to express her disappointment with Giuliani for rejecting it.

Giuliani returned the check after the prince commented that U.S. policies in the Middle East were partly to blame for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"I think he should have recognized your right to speak and make observations about a part of the world which you know so well," McKinney wrote to the prince in a four-page letter.

McKinney also wrote that she was concerned about reports of "a pattern of excessive, and often indiscriminate, use of lethal force" by Israeli security forces against unarmed Palestinians.

Jewish groups harshly criticized McKinney's statements.

Mark Moskowitz, director of the Atlanta office of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, said McKinney should not "divide America at a time when we are still mourning the loss of over 6,000 of our citizens."

Hussein Ibish, spokesman for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, said McKinney was right to defend the prince's comments, even if they were poorly worded.

-- Anonymous, October 16, 2001

Answers

I can't find the article now, but I read it this morning. The Atlanta newspaper felt it had to apologize for McKinney being their congressperson. (was on Lucianne, but it must be way back in the pages now.)

-- Anonymous, October 16, 2001