Take a photo of a barcode or cover
books_ergo_sum 's review for:
The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir
by Samantha Power
reflective
This book made me question if its better to try to work towards social justice from within the system or not...
Samantha Power was Obama’s ambassador to the UN and NSC advisor in this memoir. She’s the current head of USAID. And she cares about genocide? Question mark?
She was a Bosnian genocide war correspondent and took Never Again so seriously she LITERALLY WROTE THE BOOK on the role the US should play in preventing genocides. And I truly believe she cares (cared?) deeply about this stuff.
So what the heck is going on with her record on Palestine? There were two 🤨 parts to this question:
▪️ one, there is a huge lie of omission in here. Despite going into detail about every other world event that happened (big or small, success or failure), she didn’t mention Palestine at all
▪️ and two, as the current director of USAID, she is overseeing the most clear-cut violation of humanitarian law (and the most obviously illegal role the US is playing in perpetuating this genocide): the withholding of aid in Gaza
That lie of omission was pretty yikes—a ton happened in Palestine at that time, including the two biggest invasions of Gaza (before this year). The occupation would have been one of the biggest (if not the biggest) things she dealt with on a daily basis. Not mentioning it at all?? Sketchy AF.
So what was happening?
Maybe she has a moral blind spot? Fighting against all genocides except the current one? There were a few clues that support this hypothesis within the book—from public criticism of her husband’s pro-Israel politics to a gift from a pro-Israel lobby in pride of place in her UN office (even though she describes how it makes other diplomats feel awkward). Plus, the weirdest thing she did in the whole memoir: advising the US not to join the Human Rights Commission (even though it’s 1000% her thing) because Israel is one of the countries it addresses.
Or maybe, this book has been heavily censored in order for her to get (and keep) her job at USAID. Other (retired) members of that administration, Obama included, talk about Palestine in their memoirs... but maybe that has more to do with their retirement than their honesty? At the end, she thanked people for telling her what *not* to include in here, and it was all very suss.
But at what cost? Remember how I said she was withholding aid to Gaza? While I was reading this, ProPublica leaked internal memos showing that Samantha Power gave Anthony Blinken a report stating that Israel IS withholding aid to Gaza. But Blinken lied under oath in Congress, claiming the report said they weren’t—leaning on Power’s anti-genocide legacy to legitimize what’s happening.
So who is she really helping?
Samantha Power was Obama’s ambassador to the UN and NSC advisor in this memoir. She’s the current head of USAID. And she cares about genocide? Question mark?
She was a Bosnian genocide war correspondent and took Never Again so seriously she LITERALLY WROTE THE BOOK on the role the US should play in preventing genocides. And I truly believe she cares (cared?) deeply about this stuff.
So what the heck is going on with her record on Palestine? There were two 🤨 parts to this question:
▪️ one, there is a huge lie of omission in here. Despite going into detail about every other world event that happened (big or small, success or failure), she didn’t mention Palestine at all
▪️ and two, as the current director of USAID, she is overseeing the most clear-cut violation of humanitarian law (and the most obviously illegal role the US is playing in perpetuating this genocide): the withholding of aid in Gaza
That lie of omission was pretty yikes—a ton happened in Palestine at that time, including the two biggest invasions of Gaza (before this year). The occupation would have been one of the biggest (if not the biggest) things she dealt with on a daily basis. Not mentioning it at all?? Sketchy AF.
So what was happening?
Maybe she has a moral blind spot? Fighting against all genocides except the current one? There were a few clues that support this hypothesis within the book—from public criticism of her husband’s pro-Israel politics to a gift from a pro-Israel lobby in pride of place in her UN office (even though she describes how it makes other diplomats feel awkward). Plus, the weirdest thing she did in the whole memoir: advising the US not to join the Human Rights Commission (even though it’s 1000% her thing) because Israel is one of the countries it addresses.
Or maybe, this book has been heavily censored in order for her to get (and keep) her job at USAID. Other (retired) members of that administration, Obama included, talk about Palestine in their memoirs... but maybe that has more to do with their retirement than their honesty? At the end, she thanked people for telling her what *not* to include in here, and it was all very suss.
But at what cost? Remember how I said she was withholding aid to Gaza? While I was reading this, ProPublica leaked internal memos showing that Samantha Power gave Anthony Blinken a report stating that Israel IS withholding aid to Gaza. But Blinken lied under oath in Congress, claiming the report said they weren’t—leaning on Power’s anti-genocide legacy to legitimize what’s happening.
So who is she really helping?