In statement issued this week, State Department spokeswoman listed a U.S. diplomat’s travel destinations as ‘Algeria, Qatar, Jordan, Jerusalem, and Israel’ – drawing fire from conservative reporters.
The status of Jerusalem has long been a controversial issue – even in the U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland echoed that fact this week while answering a question about Israel’s capital.
Earlier this week, the Department of State issued a routine statement announcing the visit of the Acting Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Kathleen Stephens to the Middle East. The statement said that Stephens was “to meet with a broad cross-section of government officials, students, NGOs, and exchange program alumni”.


Simon Deng, a former South Sudanese slave taken by a neighbor as a young boy to Islamist Northern Sudan, gave this impassioned speech at the Durban Watch Conference in New York, Sept 22, 2011. 





Israeli New Shekel Exchange Rate