You are on page 1of 1

Claremont COURIER/Friday, November 28, 2014

Ambassador expounds on global issues at special service

ast Friday, Temple


Beth Israel held the
first event in its Brenda
Rosenfeld Shabbat Scholars
Series, which brings highly-regarded speakers to the temple.
The series has been launched in
memory of Ms. Rosenfeld, who died
earlier this year after a lifetime of commitment to tikkun olam, a Hebrew
phrase meaning healing the world.
Midway through a service marked by
song, community and prayer, Ms.
Rosenfelds brother, Edward Marks,
took to the podium.
Mr. Marks is an ambassador who has
spent his illustrious career in foreign relations and diplomacy. From 1976 to 1986,
he served as the US Ambassador to the
republics of Guinea-Bissau and Cape
Verde. He went on to become the State
Departments deputy coordinator for
counter-terrorism, followed by a tenure
as deputy chief of mission and charge
daffaires in Sri Lanka and deputy US
representative to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.
Mr. Marks hasnt slowed down much
since his retirement. He is a speaker and
a consultant in the areas of terrorism, interagency coordination, the United Nations and complex international emer-

Photo courtesy of Picasa


Ambassador Edward Marks speaks at Temple Beth Israel.

gencies. He also recently co-authored a


book called US Government Counterterrorism: Who Does What.
In his talk, he managed to summarize
the worlds shifting political climate
since World War I, divided into three
acts, in less than an hour. But first he expressed his gratitude at being the inaugural speaker in a series devoted to Ms.
Rosenfeld.

The opportunity to be here is a gift


from my sister, he said.
He quipped that he felt a bit like
Teyve in Fiddler on the Roof, who in
the song If I Were a Rich Man fantasizes about expounding on the Torah
and the problems of the world as if he
really knew.
Jokes aside, he went on to demonstrate that he knows quite a lot.

His career has given him a long view


of global affairs, one which has led to a
few notes of pessimism. The USs attempts at nation-building in the Middle
East in recent years have been futile, despite a great toll in terms of blood and
money.
We made a really bad mistake, he
said, adding that we are still facing the
consequences. You cannot create
someone elses country.
He also holds little hope for a peaceable two-state solution between Israel
and Pakistan.
It looks highly unlikely at the moment and thats a tragedy and the problem because if that doesnt work, what
are the alternatives? I cant think of any
good solution, he said. There are six
to seven million Jews in Israel and some
six to seven million people in Palestine.
You have two people who want the
same piece of land.
Due to the United States waning
prosperity and international influence,
Mr. Marks said, Americans have to get
used to collaborating with other countries as opposed to calling the all the
shots.
Its hard for Americans to relinquish
the role of leader of the free world, he
said.
Weve always considered our counSHABBBAT SCHOLARS/next page

You might also like