US withdraws human rights candidate over his criticism of Israel

WASHINGTON

The Biden administration withdrew the candidacy of a leading rights activist Tuesday due to his criticism of Israel, just days after nominating him to serve on a leading human rights panel.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said the decision to withdraw James Cavallaro's nomination to serve as the commissioner of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights was made over his "inappropriate" past statements.

"His statements clearly do not reflect US policy. They are not a reflection of what we believe. And they are inappropriate to say the least," Price told reporters. "Judging by some of the statements that have since been uncovered, it is fair to conclude, it in fact is true, that we were not aware of these statements and writings that he produced."

Cavallaro, who has a long track record working in human rights, was informed of the decision during a meeting at the State Department on Tuesday morning.

He said the decision was "due to my statements denouncing apartheid in Israel/Palestine."

"Today, the State Dept informed me that they were withdrawing my candidacy because of my view that the conditions in Israel/Palestine meet the definition of apartheid under international human rights law," he wrote on Twitter.

Cavallaro said he was asked to sign a joint statement withdrawing his nomination but declined to do so, "as I played no part in making this decision & was ready to commit to another term as a Commissioner."

On Friday, when it nominated Cavallaro to serve on the Organization of American States commission from 2024-2027, the State Department hailed the activist as a "leading scholar and practitioner of international law with deep expertise in the region as well as the Inter-American human rights system."

He serves as the founder and executive director of the University Network for Human Rights, which trains undergraduate and graduate students in human rights, and held positions at Harvard, Stanford and Yale Law Schools. He also served on the rights commission from 2014-2017.

The Algemeiner, a Jewish outlet based in New York City, published over the weekend an article in which they raised Cavallaro's past tweets that criticized Israel and support for the country among US politicians, including Representative Hakeem Jeffries, who is now the top Democrat in the House of Representatives.

Jeffries, Cavallaro wrote in December, was "Bought. Purchased. Controlled" by pro-Israel groups. He was replying to an article about the lawmaker's acceptance of lobbying funds from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and similar groups.

The tweet and several others have since been deleted, and Cavallaro said he did so "because I was proactively & in good faith addressing concerns the @StateDept had raised during the vetting process about public expressions of my personal views on U.S. policy."

Other tweets referred to Israel as an "apartheid state," a reference to the rights abuses committed in South Africa which activists say are mirrored in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. Cavallaro also said Israel was responsible for "atrocities."

The Biden administration's decision to axe Cavallaro's nomination draws stark parallels to a recent saga at Harvard University in which a renowned human rights activist had an employment offer rescinded and then reinstated amid widespread criticism.

The university's Kennedy School reversed course Jan. 19 after initially denying a fellowship to Ken Roth, the man who led Human Rights Watch (HRW) for three decades.

The school's decision came after Dean Douglas Elmendorf initially blocked Roth from receiving an illustrious one-year fellowship at the school's Carr Center for Human Rights Policy. Roth led HRW since 1993 before recently retiring and has been dubbed the "godfather" of human rights by The New York Times.

Elmendorf did not specify why he changed his mind but said he had been in "error."

"The withdrawal of my appointment comes on the heels of the @Kennedy_School withdrawal of a fellowship offered to @KenRoth due to his advocacy for human rights in Israel/Palestine (a decision that has since been reversed)," wrote Cavallaro.

"Censorship of human rights advocates who denounce apartheid in Israel also affects countless Palestinian academics, activists & students who do not have the platform that @KenRoth or myself have," he added.